Burning On
by Razamataz22
Summary: "Who is this?" asked Erza, looking down at the man. "Ace..." he says in a soft voice. "What was that?" asked Erza kneeling down beside the man, brushing the bloody hair out of his face. He looks up and stares Erza in the eye. "My name is Portgaz D. Ace."
1. Chapter 1

**Found an interesting open challenge from Zaru and thought I'd take it up and see what happens.**

**Disclaimer: I own neither Fairy Tail nor One Piece.**

...

His body ached as he struggled to open an eye as the sounds of shouting from his crew alerted him to another presence. After having fought the Shichibukai Jimbei to a stalemate after five gruelling days, he had little strength remaining. "Which one of you boys want to take my head?" boomed a voice filled with power. "If you want it so badly, here's your chance."

"Captain, its Whitebeard," shouted the first mate, the statement forcing Ace's eyes open. Portgaz D. Ace forced himself to his hands and knees as the intimidating form of Whitebeard leapt from the top of his ship and landed in front of the pirates, the shockwave sending several of the crewmates scattering in all directions. Whitebeard stood protectively next to Jimbei, protecting his friend as Ace got to his feet, using whatever little strength he had left to remain stable. He looked Whitebeard in the eye, a man whose strength was known across the world. He had figured that one of the strongest men in the world would look at him with a happy face, looking upon a fool who would challenge against his great name. The look of surprise however was not one that he had expected.

"Enjoumou!" shouted Ace, a wall of fire separating his crew from Whitebeard, his crew who had recovered still looking at their captain in shock as a golden glow began to surround the teenager.

"This is interesting," said Whitebeard as he studied the youth before him.

"Run you guys," shouted Ace through the flames behind him, unaware of what was occurring to him.

"Are you backing away after all?" questioned Whitebeard, putting the glowing to the back of his mind momentarily.

Ace turned to face Whitebeard determination written across his face. "Let my nakama go, and in their stead I'll stay right here," he proclaimed boldly.

"You snot nosed brat," chuckled Whitebeard. "Do you even know what's going on with your body at the moment?"

Ace blinked a few times before looking at his hand and for the first time seeing the faint glow as pieces of him began to break off and float towards the sky, terrifying the boy. "What's happening to me!" he shouted in fear as his hand began to vanish. His eyes then turned back to Whitebeard with scorn. "You did this to me!"

"I can tell you I did nothing of the sort boy, this is beyond anything I've ever seen on this vast sea," said Whitebeard, his voice carrying wisdom within his words.

"What's happening captain!" shouted the Spade Pirates from beyond the other side of the flames.

"I told you guys to run!" he shouted as he forced his wrist to become flames in an attempt to regenerate his hand but to no avail as more of his body began to break away and fly towards the sky. With his teeth clenched he turned to Whitebeard. "If I'm dying by some disease, I tell you now," he said before he lunged forward, his fist arched back. "I'm going to go down fighting the best there is!"

Whitebeard couldn't help but smile as a ball of fire was sent towards his face, but as he knocked it aside as if it was nothing, he found that Ace had vanished, not a single trace for him left bar from the destruction he and Jimbei had caused. Just like that, as his crew cried for him in sorrow and towards Whitebeard in anger, the captain of the Spade Pirates, Portgaz D. Ace, vanished from the world, never to be seen again.

...

'_This feeling, I remember this feeling. This is what it felt like before I ate the Mera Mera no Mi and became a fire man. I feel cold.'_

...

Gajeel looked towards the sky smoke rising from the other side of the plaza, a commotion which he had planned only an hour ago using the barest materials he could find. "There's a commotion to the north of the plaza! Somebody must be after the lacrima!" he shouted loud enough so that the guards surrounding the lacrima could hear him. It had taken him a long time to find the giant crystal which contained the guild he called home but now he had managed to get close enough to the lacrima which held his guild members trapped within. Mystogan had explained to him that only the power of a dragon slayer could shatter the lacrima and return his friends back to normal.

"North, damn it that's where our formation is at its weakness," said one of the guards in disgust before he turned to his comrades. "Send two thirds of the guards around to the back of the lacrima, the rest move the spectators back."

"Move back please," said several of the soldiers as they started crowd control, only for a single member of the crowd to remain alone, the cloak hiding Gajeel's features.

A vicious smile crossed Gajeel's lips as he saw the crowd disappear from around him. "Okay, now I can really cut loose," he proclaimed before turning around, tossing his cloak to the side as he did so, the black insignia of Fairy Tail proudly worn on his shoulder. As the guards tried to recover from their shock, Gajeel charged forward his fist pulled back as a magic glow surrounded it. "That Mystogan guy seemed pretty fishy to be but I'll trust him for now. Pillar of the Iron Dragon!" he shouted as his fist transformed into a giant metal rod that struck several guards who had been unprepared for such an attack.

Leaping high into the air, his hand transformed again into a serrated blade, as he descended towards the blue crystal. "Sword of the Iron Dragon!" he shouted as the blade crashed into the lacrima, sending several chunks scattering across the floor. "I'm not done yet." With that battle cry he slammed his sword-arm into the lacrima, causing the crystal to light up in a brilliant display of colours, which caused those still watching to gape in awe. Gajeel landed in front of the civilians, smiling at the light in front of him until it began to shrink into the forms of three people.

All around both civilians and soldiers were shocked at the development as the bare-chested blue haired man and the woman who looked similar to one of the army generals got to their knees slowly. "What the...only three?" said Gajeel having thought that the lacrima contained the strength of the entire Fairy Tail guild. Then his eyes shifted to the man whom had yet to get up, his body covered with battle wounds, the twitching of his fingers the only indication that he was alive. From his lips he muttered the name "Luffy" over and over as if reliving bad memories only for it to not be heard over the commotion. Shaking his head, he looked towards the two familiar faces, "Oi wake up. Pay Attention!"

Getting to their feet, Erza Scarlett and Gray Fullbuster opened their eyes to find themselves in a strange world surrounded by men in uniform brandishing their weapons threateningly. "You're awake," said Gajeel in a light hearted tone, the fact the guards were starting to mobilize not fazing him in the slightest.

"Gajeel?" said Erza in confusion as she and Gray looked around trying to figure something out.

"You fiend!" shouted one the guards rushing forward with his spear, his courage enlisting the strength of the rest of the soldiers as they charged forward ready to deal swift justice to the man whom had robbed them of magical power.

"You won't get away with this!" shouted another.

Gray sneered as he placed his hands together, his right fist landing in his left palm as he channelled his magical energy to find that he couldn't feel anything. "I can't use magic!" he said in shock which caused Erza's jaw to drop as she tried to channel her magic to find that she couldn't summon a weapon.

"I'll explain later," said Gajeel as he took a bite out of a chunk of metal, preparing to deal with the guards when his eyes fell on the third man who had miraculously gotten to his feet.

"Are you alright?" asked Erza noticing the damaged condition the man was in.

"What happened to him?" asked Gray as the man lifted his head.

"Don't lay a finger on Luffy!" he shouted, his words carrying a fierce power that forced Gray, Erza and Gajeel to be blown back a couple of feet, the Fairy Tail wizards struggling to hold their feet.

"What was that?" asked Erza before the sound of crashing was heard all around them only to find that everybody who had been around the three people who had been locked in the lacrima and the one who had freed them unconscious on the ground. Erza, Gray and Gajeel just looked on in shock as the civilians began to run for their lives in fear of what may happen to them. A final crash was heard causing the wizards' heads to turn to find that the man had fallen unconscious.

"Grab him and let's go before more guards rock up," shouted Gajeel recovering first. Gray responded by opening and closing his mouth several times before shaking his head and grabbing the limp body and chucking it over his shoulder, subconsciously feeling the heat radiate off the body not like that of a normal human.

The three wizards ran through the streets before they came to an isolated alleyway, Erza looking around the nearby streets to ensure that they hadn't been followed. Getting the signal that they were safe, Gray laid the body of the mysterious man on the ground, leaning his torso against the wall of a nearby building. "Alright Gajeel explain where we are?" asked Erza looking at the former member of Phantom Lord.

"We're not in our world anymore, the world here is called Edolas," explained the iron dragon slayer. "Their world is run by magic and they were able to target Fairy Tail as a suitable source of magic to fill their needs, in short they turned everyone into a lacrima to try and harness our magic power."

"That's insane," said Gray as Gajeel pulled a small container out of his pocket. "What's those?"

"These will allow you to use magic in Edolas," explained Gajeel as he opened the container, plucking three of the balls out. "Mystogan gave them to me."

"Mystogan?" said Erza confused, knowing the face behind the mysterious man's mask.

"Yea, he gave me these pills and explained the situation to me before sending me here," he said as he handed a ball to both Erza and Gray. "I thought when I smashed that lacrima it would have had everyone inside, but since only you guys were in there that means there is a lacrima even bigger lying around somewhere with the guild inside."

"So we've got to free everyone," stated Gray as he swallowed the ball, allowing himself to feel the familiar sense of magic running through him once again.

"Then that raises the question," said Erza as she swallowed her ball before looking at the man against the wall. "Who is this?"

"Ace..." said the man, his voice barely louder than a whisper.

"What was that?" asked Erza as she knelt beside the man, brushing the bloodied hair out of his face.

"My name," he said raising his face, looking Erza directly in the eye, "Is Portgaz D. Ace."

...

**There we have it, hope you enjoyed. Peace out.**


	2. Chapter 2

**Disclaimer: I don't own Fairy Tail or One Piece**

...

"Ace," repeated Erza as the man struggled to get to his feet, only to stumble and fall onto the cobblestones below him. "You shouldn't push yourself," she said wrapping her arm around him, helping him upright.

"I'll be fine," he said pushing Erza aside, only to once again stumble and only keep himself on his feet by pushing against the wall.

"You're injured, you shouldn't push yourself," said Erza as she reached forward only for him to slap her hand away. "Look I'm only trying to help."

"I don't need your help," said Ace as he started limping away. "All I need to do is get back to my ship and make sure my crew is safe."

"Crew?" repeated Gray questioning the sanity of this man. "Are you talking about a guild?"

"No, I'm talking about the crew that I sail around the world with," said Ace as he lifted his wrist to inspect the Lock Post only to find that the needle continued to spin in a clockwise direction. He tapped it a couple of times but the needle continued to rotate. "Something must be screwing up the magnetic field," he muttered before turning back to the Fairy Tail wizards. "Where about on the Grand Line are we?"

"Grand Line? Never heard of it," said Gajeel before turning around. "C'mon you two, we need to hurry if we're going to save the guild."

"Right," said Gray as he ran off. Gajeel quickly followed but not before handing the third ball he had plucked out of the jar that Mystogan had given him to Erza. Erza looked at Ace as he grumbled his way across the wall, she sighed as she walked up to him.

"Take this," she commanded in an serious tone.

"I don't need it," said Ace, not even bothering to make eye contact as he trudged along.

"Think of this as thanks for helping us escape the guards," said Erza as she grabbed Ace's hand and placed the ball inside it before closing his fingers up over the pill. "That will help restore your magical powers. I hope that the next time we meet will be on a happier occasion."

Ace said nothing as Erza ran after her comrades, the pirate throwing a brief glance over his shoulder at the three people before turning his attention to the ball in his hand. "Restore my powers," he said under his breath before placing his hand on his mouth and tipping his head back, swallowing the ball in a single moment. Instead of the gentle transition the wizards had had, Ace's eyes diluted immensely before he felt a massive wave of pain rush through him, tearing at his very core. It only took him seconds to collapse onto his knees, gripping at his head before unconsciousness overtook him, the infamous super rookie collapsing in a heap.

...

"_Ace, why didn't you run away?" asked Dadan, her voice trembling as she broke into a coughing fit, the wounds from the battle against Bluejam still evident._

_Ace lifted his head, his eyes alone conveying more experience than a man twice his age. "Sometimes the blood rushes to my head, and I feel like, if Irun, I'll lose something important," he said slowly, his words carrying a deep meaning. "That time, Luffy was behind me."_

_..._

Ace's eyes peered open and all he could see was endless white, forcing him to lift his arm to shield his eyes. As his sight slowly came back into focused, he found his arm had been bandaged significantly, the feeling of linen was felt across the majority of his body. Ignoring it momentarily, he pushed himself up into a seating position and got a better look at his surroundings. While the walls were painted a bright white there were various shelves containing medical equipment alongside random odds and ends, a crystal hung from the ceiling illuminating a bright light along the room. A window shone an orange light into the room which indicated that he had been out for several hours.

His head turned sharply as he heard the sound of the door opening to find a young woman wearing a nurse's outfit step inside the room, a clipboard in her hand. "Oh my, you're awake already?" she said in surprise as she walked up to Ace. "The doctor's didn't think you would wake for a couple of days but it's only been four hours."

"Where am I?" asked Ace, his voice raspy.

"You're at the hospital," informed the nurse. "Some civilians found you injured in the back streets and they were afraid that you had been mugged during the ordeal and left for dead."

"Ordeal?" asked Ace confused.

"Apparently there was an attack on the palace by Fairy Tail," explained the nurse as she put the clipboard down on the bedside table. "I haven't heard many reports on it however." Before Ace could react the nurse placed the back of her hand on Ace's forehead. "It feels like you're burning up, you might be running a fever."

"Fever...could you pass me a scalpel?" he asked politely, remembering the lessons that Makino had taught him back when he was a child.

"A scalpel?" asked the nurse confused.

"I just need to check something," he explained to which the nurse looked at him peculiarly before obliging to his request, although a bit hesitantly.

"What do you plan on doing with it?" she asked only for Ace to respond by stabbing the point of the blade into his palm. "Oh my god, are you crazy?" screamed the nurse as she quickly took the blade away from Ace, afraid of what he might do next. The pirate paid no attention however as he studied his hand, the hole in his hand remaining for a few seconds before closing up as flames became skin. The ordeal however had been a lot more strenuous than Ace recalled. Back when he had first eaten the fruit he could heal from fatal wounds without it putting any sort of pressure onto his body. This however made it feel like his power was limited despite the minimal hole he had made.

"That's amazing," said the nurse having watched as the hole heal itself. "I've never seen anything like that. The doctors will want to know about this right away. I'll be back shortly," she said as she charged out of the room, intent on finding the nearest doctor and tell them of Ace's unheard of power. However when she returned with several doctors in tow they were shocked to find the severed remains of bandages both cut and burnt while the curtains swayed in the wind of the open window.

...

Ace walked through the streets, trying to blend into the crowd despite not wearing a shirt which in itself got many stares, a number of which were flirtatious from the female population of the city and even a few envious looks from men. Ace paid it little attention however as he pressed forward, he didn't even know where he was going so long as he could get some information as to where he was. Taking a seat on a bench, he put his face in his hands as he tried to process everything that had happened, starting with the fight with Jimbei. It had been after that battle that Whitebeard had came and Ace threw himself into the line of fire, allowing his crewmates to escape. That was when he had started glowing.

Ace looked up from his position and stared at a streetlight, the crystal inside illuminating rather than a wick or an electrical light like those used back home. "Hey buddy," he said calling out to a man who was walking by. "Can I ask you a few questions? I just got out of the hospital with a slight case of amnesia and I need to get some facts right," he lied convincingly.

"Yea sure, what do you need to know," said the man diverting from his original direction.

"I can remember things like my name and where I live," explained Ace leaning forward, "But I can't remember what those things are," he said pointing at the lamp.

"Lacrimas? They contain magical energy and each different lacrima serves a different purpose. That lacrima is designed for light while others contain heat, others are used for communication, they're pretty much used for everything," explained the man.

"So where does the magical power they contain come from?" asked Ace, absorbing the information.

"We used to take magical energy from the land but it began to dry up so his majesty started looking for alternate sources to keep our lives happy," said the man smiling broadly, one which was not mirrored on Ace's face. "He and his scientists soon discovered that magical energy is abundant in other worlds and by creating a rift we are able to absorb the magical energy from other worlds."

"So practically they've been stealing magic from other worlds," said Ace angrily.

"Don't sound so negative about it, what would we do if we ran out of magic? Try not to think about it too much. I hope I've been able to help, but I've got to get home to the wife and kids."

"Thanks," muttered Ace looking away as the man walked off. With this new information in mind it didn't take long for Ace to work out what had happened. The armour-clad woman had given him a pill which was meant to restore magical power and these people tried to take magical energy from other worlds to use as their own, most likely they didn't know that magical energy was held within people. Ace's fists clenched together as he began to realise that these people were effectively sacrificing dozens if not hundreds of lives just so that they could have light at night. Those people who had helped them earlier no doubt were going to try and save their friends from being converted into magical energy; that much he was sure of.

Standing up, he walked through the streets and made his way to a clothing store vendor. "My, my, looking for some clothes are we?" asked the man, holding his hands together hopefully. Ace paid him little attention as he grabbed a red shirt with a company logo branded on the front before slipping it over his torso, the fit practically perfect. "My, my, a perfect fit sir, would you like to purchase it, I'll make you a special offer?" asked the vendor only to find that Ace was walking away from him. "My, my sir you need to pay for that!" he shouted as he gave chase.

"I wouldn't be so worried about this," said Ace over his shoulder causing the man to pause confused. "After all, your stall's on fire."

The salesman quickly turned around to see his clothes burning in a plume of smoke, many people screaming in fear as a few daring citizens tried to extinguish the blaze. The man stared in shock momentarily before rushing to save as much of his stock as he could, his attention now far away from that of the single stolen shirt.

"So I can still use fire in small doses," said Ace to himself as he flexed his fingers, thankful that the small amount he had cast had dealt little damage to his stamina. "I'll need time to test my limits, don't want to charge head on into something that I can't handle. The real question though is do I align myself with the people fighting against the army or do I just lay low."

Ace found himself a seat on a bench near the residential area and pondered over this thought. It would only be a couple of minutes later when the town began to shift and mould, preparing for the dragon chain cannon to launch. Ace however missed this event as he had just fallen victim to a sudden case of narcolepsy and was asleep.

...

"Shit I fell asleep," shouted Ace as he woke up, quickly noticing the lack of light in the sky. "Nightfall already, didn't think I was out that long." Grumbling he got to his feet, brushing off his pants. Running forward, he leapt much higher than a normal human and landed on top of a roof, giving him a better vision of his surroundings. He figured all he needed to do was head towards the nearest point of random destruction and go from there. The dragon like creatures flying overhead towards the sounds of shouts and carnage on the outskirts of town nearby were a good enough starting point for him to work off. "That's convenient," he said wishing he had his hat to tilt back, finding it difficult to break the old habit. With a moment's silence for his missing hat, Ace took off, leaping from rooftop to rooftop as quickly as he could, intent on making a stand.

...

Gray looked around, searching for more opponents, the one's he had been fighting knocked to the ground from his latest ice attack. "I'm not done yet," he proclaimed boldly, however the reality was much different with only him and Lucy's summoning of Loke the only two people still able to fight. The situation becoming worse as three large beasts called Legions dropped from the sky with a tremendous roar. Gray could do nothing to block as one of the creatures drove its head into his body, knocking him to the ground as the swarms of guards continued to shoot magical energy blasts at them through their staffs. Loke was only able to last a few seconds longer before he too was knocked to the side, his magical energy almost completely depleted.

Sitting behind the central battle, Happy had tears in his eyes as he watched the carnage before him. "No, everyone's going to die," he said softly as he cradled the wounded Charle in his arms, the fallen Coco leaning against a nearby tree, her energy all but gone.

"I'm not done yet," said Lucy as she got to her feet, avoiding a number of blasts before swinging her magical whip forward, the weapon successfully hitting a number of guards. "Natsu and Erza are still fighting. We can't give up before they do."

"It's no use, we're just too outnumbered," said Happy as a blast flew past his cheek, the heat from the attack not fazing the Exceed. Through tear filled eyes he watched as Lucy was knocked to the ground and the little re-established strength Loke and Gray had produced was diminished as the creatures swiped them to the ground with little difficulty. As the guards charged forward, ready to finish the job on their wounded opponents, Happy closed his eyes and prayed as a shadow appeared behind him. "Someone, please save us."

A column of fire unlike anything the soldiers had ever seen before forced many to shout and fear and those too close to the inferno suffered severe burns to their uniforms and skin. The Legions were startled by the blaze and stomped around wildly, a couple even taking off in fear of what had happened. Happy could only stare in shock as Gray, Loke, Lucy and Coco looked into the fire as it diminished to reveal Ace standing there with his back to the Fairy Tail wizards.

"Cat, first off I don't even know how you're talking but now's not the time for that, you called for help and I'm here to answer," said Ace looking over his shoulder. Leaning down, he picked up a spear that had been dropped by one of the injured guards, the weapon reminiscent from his childhood where he wielded a staff like pipe. "Now I'm not quite sure why an entire army is attacking four people and a couple of cats, but I've never been one to back down from a fight." Ace settled into a stance, his mastery with the weapon from years of using one still evident in his grip.

"Bring it!"

...

**Hope you enjoyed. Peace out.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail or One Piece.**

...

Ace stared down the army that lay before him, beads of exhaustive sweat already forming on his brow despite only having executed the one technique. He knew it would be foolish for him to make the first move, rather it would be wiser to wait for them to charge at him and deal with them as they came rather than fend off all of them at once. "Ace?" said Gray in confusion as he got to his knees, remembering the man from earlier on.

"You know him?" asked Lucy, struggling to keep her eyes open.

"We've met," said Ace not bothering to turn around, knowing that he needed to keep his eyes on the opponents at all costs. They held their staffs at a peculiar angle, much like how a first time shooter would hold a rifle under the armpit rather than on top of the shoulder to align with eyesight. Ace would quickly learn the meaning of this however, as a vast number of magical orbs were fired at him.

"Shit," he cursed, dodging to the side, avoiding the first volley of fire. "These things are ranged weapons?" he said looking at the staff in his hand, quickly realising that after what he had displayed they weren't going to be coming at him that quickly. Quickly realising a crucial mistake, he looked upwards to find several orbs flying in his direction leaving him no time to dodge. He was saved however, as a wall of ice appeared between him and pain having appeared from practically nowhere.

"You owe me one," said Gray with a winded smile, specks of ice still floating around his hands.

"Cheers," said Ace looking over his shoulder at the Ice mage. Standing up so that his head peered over the wall of ice, Ace placed the staff on his shoulder and looked down the staff like one would a ranged weapon, aiming the hollow end at the army in front of him.

...

"_You want a shot captain?" asked a drunken crew member, offering the rifle to his superior._

"_Why would I need to know how to shoot something?" asked Ace, having gained the powers of the Mera Mera no Mi several months earlier._

"_Seastone?" said the crewmate in more of a question than a statement but Ace quickly saw the man's point. If one of his hands were to be surrounded by the rare substance, he would still need a way to defend himself that wasn't physically taxing on the body otherwise risk collapsing. Taking the rifle from the gunman, Ace propped the weapon up on his shoulder like he had seen the crewman do on a number of occasions then he aimed at the mast, intending to hit the wooden pole smack bang in the centre. Barely skimming the edge was not what he had planned and the laughs of entertainment from their captain's lack of aim. Needless to say it would be many more hours of fun and laughter before Ace could successfully hit the centre of the mast consecutively._

_..._

Ace had to wonder at the strangeness of the weapon in his hand. On one end it was ranged like a pistol and on the other it had a blade much like that of a glaive. He paid it little attention however as he prepared to return fire from behind his shelter. It was then however that he ran into trouble.

"How the hell do you fire this thing?" he shouted as he ducked behind the cover, narrowly avoiding a magical bullet that flew over his head.

"Seriously?" questioned Gray in disbelief before Ace chucked him the weapon.

"Hold this for me," he commanded before jumping on top of the ice, putting his hands by his side in a style like a kid would pretend that their hand was a gun. "Higan!" he shouted as he began to shoot fire out of his fingers at an incredible rate, striking down the men in front of him as quickly as he could. He would quickly be forced back behind his shelter however in order to dodge another rain of oncoming projectiles.

"So what's the plan?" asked Gray as he passed the weapon back to Ace.

"I'll waste my strength if I keep doing this ranged stuff," explained Ace breathing slightly heavier, snapping the head off of the spear. "I need to get in close to be effective."

"Any idea how to beat the big things?" said Loke as he crawled over to where the two men were hiding. Ace cringed when he looked at the dragon like creatures, finally having been brought back under control after the initial pillar of flames.

"I have one idea, but I don't know what sort of condition I'm going to be in afterwards," said Ace knowing what he had to do. Standing up, he turned and faced the block of ice in front of him and pulled his fist back, preparing to unleash the technique which gave him the feared name of 'Fire Fist Ace.' Yet it was to his surprise however when he was beaten to the punch as thick branches sprouted out of the ground at a remarkable rate and began strangling the large creatures before them.

"What the hell?" he shouted in surprise as he, Loke and Gray turned around to find Lucy smiling at a tree that hadn't been there before, an orange banner with a white insignia blazed across the material.

"No way, it's those guys who only run away," said a soldier in shock as the dust began to settle, showing the name Fairy Tail written beneath the banner. Standing just outside what looked like a door which entered the tree, stood nearly a hundred people baring weapons of various shapes and sizes menacingly.

"You know them?" Ace asked Gray who could only shrug as they charged forward, chanting various words of power at the enemies before them.

"Sorry about the wait," said a woman who stood by the fallen Lucy who was struggling to get back to her feet. "Were we late, Earth-Lucy?"

"Edo-Lucy," said Lucy with a smile at her replica.

"Holy shit they're the same," said Ace as he quickly noticed the similarities between the two people. He looked to Loke and Gray for answers but found the orange haired man staring at the two Lucys with hearts in his eyes. Meanwhile the ice wizard had ran into his other self and was shocked at his appearance. While the Gray who had been fighting alongside Ace was wearing next to no clothing, the Gray that had just appeared had multiple jackets and scarfs on.

"Me?" they both said at the same time as the battle commencing around them suddenly didn't seem to matter. "Look at your clothes!"

"Put something on!" shouted the new Gray.

"Take it off!" commanded the naked Gray.

Ace sighed as he realised that he wasn't going to get an answer as he swung the spear around several times in his hand before charging into battle. With an unfathomable force, he began knocking the soldiers left and right, expertly handling the weapon as if he had never stopped using it.

"Lisanna, look out!" shouted a voice nearby causing Ace to look around to see a young woman with white hair disarmed and a spear being thrust towards her torso. Acting on impulse, Ace leapt forward, pushing the girl out of the way.

Lisanna hit the ground with a thud and looked up at her saviour to find the blade sticking through his chest much to her horror. All around them everything seemed to come to a brief standstill as they looked at the wounded warrior only for a smile to spread across Ace's face. Before the soldier could realise what was happening, Ace swung his weapon around, the blunt end of the weapon hitting the man harshly across the side of the head.

"What kind of monster are you?" shouted another soldier as he fired a magical bullet from close range, the attack blowing off a chunk of Ace's head but he still remained standing. It was then that his wounds started to heal, flames licking away at the openings before he returned to his former state, whole and intact.

"He's got an elemental body like Juvia," said Lucy in astonishment as her second self attacked a group of nearby soldiers.

"Who are you?" questioned Lisanna from the ground as Natsu helped her get to her feet.

"Ace," said the man with a smile, once again wishing he had his broad hat to tip upwards. He tried not to let it show but having recovered from those attacks had taken a lot out of him and he momentarily struggled to stay on his feet.

"Thank you," said Natsu trying not to run away from the ominous figure in front of him.

"Thank me after the fight is finished," said Ace as he dodged an oncoming attack as the battle raged on, the spectacle of the man healing having concluded. Ace drove his knee into the man's chest before bringing the pole down on the man's back with a sickening crack. Turning around, he found a group of men charging towards him with their spears at the ready only for a woman with white hair wielding a sword and a shield and a blue haired woman carrying a tonfa in each hand to step in front of him protectively.

"You saved my sister's life," said the white haired woman blocking an attack on her shield before countering with the blade. "We'll need to repay you somehow."

The tonfa wielding blue haired woman blocked two attacks at once, however in doing so she left herself vulnerable as a third man sliced towards her stomach only for a magical bullet to hit him across the side of the face. Turning her head, the blue haired woman found Ace staring down the barrel of his pole. "I finally figured out how to work this bloody thing," he said cheerfully before firing two more shots, each one hitting their target allowing for the two women to finish off the soldiers.

"I even needed you to save me," said the blue haired woman in a sultry voice as she struck down another soldier before moving to Ace's side. "Name's Wendy."

"Ace," replied the fire wielder as he felt more comfortable with his back protected, able to easily fend off all the people who came at his front side.

"When we make it through this Ace why don't you and I go somewhere quiet and get to know each other a little better?" offered Wendy. Before Ace could answer everything around them began to shake, causing both Fairy Tail wizards and soldiers to fall to the ground.

"What's happening?" shouted several people.

"What the hell!" shouted both Grays pointing to the sky, many following their gaze to find giant islands in the sky falling towards the ground. Ace who had remained on his feet looked at the giant stones with intrigue as one crashed nearby, sending debris flying in all directions. Yellow tendrils of magic began to rise from the ground, scaring many of the natives who watched as the magic power also began to leave their weapons. Looking upwards it was clear to see all the magical power collecting in a single point in the sky but very few paid attention.

"I can't use my weapon anymore," complained a soldier which had Ace look at the man in confusion considering he was holding a spear.

"It's still a weapon, just without magic," he muttered under his breath as he looked at the pole in his hand to see the magic power running off of it. With curiosity, he stuck his fingers into the yellow tendril and could feel the magical power running through his fingers, the trail of magic only ever so smaller when it passed through his hand. He could feel his energy slowly increasing as he absorbed fragments of magical power.

"My weapon's broken," shouted a Fairy Tail wizard.

"What's happening?" said Lucy in confusion hoping somebody would answer her.

"My weapon, my weapon!" shouted the clothed Gray staring at the weapon in his hands as magic floated away.

"Calm down," said the near naked Gray trying to get his counterpart to relax.

"It's over, the world is ending," said Coco in a depressed tone as she watched the magic gather in the sky. Ace paid no attention to the cries of desperation from the people around him as he was fixated on the magic flowing through his body.

"Retreat!" shouted the soldiers as they threw down their weapons. "We can't win without our weapons." Gray and Lucy saw this as a blessing and tried to convey the good news to everybody else, however they were in a state of shock, all of them claiming that everything was coming to an end.

"Everybody calm down," shouted Lucy. "It'll be alright."

"Like hell it will!" shouted the second Lucy in retaliation. "Magic power is disappearing from the world! What's going to happen to us, to the guild?"

"You will live," said Ace as if snapping out of a trance.

"But what about magical..." started a wizard only to be silenced as a resounding force radiated from Ace's body, silencing all of the panic around them although many struggled to keep their feet as if a great weight had been placed on their shoulders.

"Magic isn't everything!" shouted Ace. "You may have grown up with it, it may be a part of your lives but that doesn't matter! What matters is that you are alive and now you have choices to make. Will you sit around and mope about the past or will you push forward and seek a new future?"

His words carried power, he himself knew it having discovered the power he was capable of many years earlier yet could only access it through emotional stress. The second Lucy quickly understood Ace's meaning and turned towards the guild members. "We're heading to the city to see if it's true," she said in a commanding tone.

"What's true?" asked Natsu.

Lucy paused momentarily, looking at Ace with determination in her eyes. "Our future," she said before turning around and taking off in a sprint. The guild hesitated before following the blonde woman, leaving only Gray, Lucy, Coco, Happy, Charle and Ace behind, Loke having fazed out of existence only minutes earlier.

"What now?" asked Coco nervously. Gray and Lucy however had no answer for the young girl. Ace however knelt beside her and placed a comforting hand on her shoulder, forcing her to look up at him with tear filled eyes.

"We live," he said with a serene smile.

...

Ace, Gray and Lucy ran into the heart of the city as people ran around them in the state of a mass panic. Nearby a building collapsed to the ground, causing only more havoc to break out before a voice starting shouting out to everybody, Ace only just able to pick up words like, 'Great King Dragneel,' and 'Destroy the city.' A pillar of fire rose into the air and Gray and Lucy quickly realised what it was.

"It's Natsu," screamed Lucy in joy running towards the fire.

"Natsu," said Happy in joy as he sprouted wings and flew upwards to get a better look.

"That cat can fly?" said Ace in disbelief as Charle sprouted a pair of wings as well. "What's wrong with this world?"

"So says the guy who heals himself in flames," said Gray sounding hypocritical as the proud call of 'MEN!' came from nearby.

"Point taken," said Ace as he and Gray ran to catch up to where the action was taking place as another building collapsed. When they finally caught up, they found a large group gathered around two men, one with pink hair the other with blue.

"That's Natsu," said Gray quickly recognising the Salamander of Fairy Tail.

"Go prince!" shouted the people as Natsu and the blue haired man fought it out with one another using fists and feet alone. Gray quickly felt the urge to jump in but a reassuring hand from Gajeel who had somehow gotten behind them stopped them.

"This is the way it needs to be," he said sternly before turning to face Ace. "So are you friend or foe, we never really decided?"

"I'm whoever I want to be," said Ace which only caused Gajeel to smile at the answer. The crowd suddenly went silent and the group turned to find both Natsu and the prince with their fists implanted in their opponents jaw and for the longest of seconds nothing happened, until Natsu began to fall backwards, landing on the ground in a heap.

"The prince won!"

"All right!"

"Prince!"

"Wonderful!"

The people chanted in favour of their prince who looked on in bewilderment before Natsu's body began to shine brightly. "What's going on?" said several people in fear.

"It's started," said a small blue haired girl from nearby who looked awfully familiar to Ace.

"Let's put on the final show," said Gajeel as both he and the girl began to glow in a similar manner to Natsu. The same golden glow quickly consumed Lucy, Gray, Happy, Charle and even Ace.

"We're being sucked into the anima!" shouted Charle as she desperately clung onto a piece of debris as her body tried to float towards the sky. As one the people of Earthland along with Ace began to hover in the air, slowly drifting further and further away from the ground.

"I see," said Lucy as they rose above the buildings. "All of the magic power is being removed from Edolas, which includes creatures and humans with magic power in them."

"Wait, so where are we heading?" asked Ace as the Dragon Slayers rose up to their level.

"We're heading home," said Lucy in a cheerful tone.

"Ahh," said Ace before a penny dropped in his thoughts. "Our homes aren't the same! Where the hell is this thing taking me?" He received no answer however as the anima finished consuming the last of Edolas' magic and the ground vanished from view.

...

Rain hammered down onto the ground at a rapid rate in the fields of Magnolia before a brilliant light shone through the darkness, tossing the Fairy Tail wizards out of the portal and back into their home, Ace following close behind. There was just a mass of bodies as people landed on top of one another, Ace the last to land but his fall was cushioned somewhat by the fact that his face had landed in something soft.

"You fiend!" shouted Erza as she quickly punched Ace, knocking the man off of her breasts. It took Ace several seconds to realise what had happened before he stood up and bowed to the weapons mistress.

"I'm sorry," he said formally as Natsu pushed himself up from the bottom of the pile and shouted into the sky.

"We're back!" Looking towards the city, the group were pleased to see that everything was back to the way that it was. "Everything's back to normal," said Natsu cheerfully.

"The city of Magnolia is fine," said Lucy in a happy tone.

"It's too early to rejoice," said Erza regaining her composure. "We need to make sure everybody is safe."

"Everyone's fine," said a voice from above causing everybody to look to the sky to find it filled with hundreds of flying cats.

"The flying cats aside," said Ace as he turned towards the wizards who were staring at the cats in shock. "Can somebody tell me where the hell I am?"

...

**Hope you enjoyed.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece or Fairy Tail**

...

With a wave of goodbye, the Exceed flew off into the night, leaving the wizards of Fairy Tail standing there with smiles across their faces. Slowly, they turned towards the person who wasn't wearing a Fairy Tail emblem upon their body, the pirate Ace standing to the side with his back pressed against a tree. They were an imposing figure, three dragon slayers alongside an S-class mage with Gray and Lucy by their side, Happy and Charle also ready to fight if the need arose. It didn't seem to be the case however, as Ace stood there, his eyes closed and a light snoring coming from his mouth.

"Wake up damn it!" shouted Natsu, grabbing Ace by the shoulders and shaking him lightly.

"What now?" replied Ace as he zoned back into awareness, stretching upwards towards the rain. "Oh, the cats are gone, what did I miss?"

"Who are you?" asked Wendy, looking up at the now less than imposing figure.

"Portgas D. Ace," said Ace smiling before turning his attention towards his wrist, hoping that the Log Pose was being reasonable once again. The only problem being the ever present compass was not on his wrist. His mind went into a state of panic momentarily as he began scouring the ground, searching underneath small shrubs in search of the elusive device. He stopped however as he remembered being in the hospital in the other world and that he hadn't felt it on his wrist at the time but was more focused on escaping.

"Oi stupid portal, open up and let me go back!" he shouted at the sky as if a giant beam of light was just going to magically fall down from the sky and transport him back.

"Are you okay?" asked Wendy wondering if she could use her powers to heal wounds that weren't physical. Ace sighed in defeat, realising that there was no way he could get his log pose back and now that he was in this new world the chances of him being able to reunite with his crew were slim to none, even more so than before.

"I'm fine," he said as he slumped down next to the tree.

"So who are you bastard!" shouted Natsu still wanting answers.

"Like I said, my name is Ace," said the pirate wondering how else he could go about introducing himself. "What's the currency here?"

"Jewels?" said Lucy, unsure of what he was getting at.

"Alright then," he said as he assumed that the currency of different worlds were equal in value, "I am a pirate with a bounty of two hundred million jewels on my head."

"Two hundred million jewels!" replied a few members of the team, backing away in fear of Ace.

"You're a pirate!" exclaimed Erza, preparing herself for a fight if need be.

"Let me ask you this then, what is a pirate?" asked Ace.

"A pirate's a bad person who raids villages before escaping on his boat," stated Happy as if it was the simplest answer.

"Not quite," said Ace as he got to his feet. "True, pirates are generally known to be vicious monsters who seek untold riches but they are the only pirates people hear of. Then there are pirates who don't go to towns and slaughter innocent people, I'm one of those."

"How could you have a bounty of two hundred million then?" asked Gray realising he had been fighting beside a person who was seen as a criminal.

"The government and I don't really see eye to eye," said Ace with a shrug. "Or it might be because I sunk half a dozen Marine battleships but you get the picture."

"You sunk six battleships!" exclaimed Natsu wondering what ferocious power this guy had.

"They were shooting cannons at me, what was I meant to do, let them kill me?"

"So you killed them in self defence?" questioned Gajeel.

"I didn't kill them, I just cost them millions in damages."

"You're not really doing yourself any favours here," said Lucy.

"You say that after I saved your life not two hours ago," said Ace.

"He saved your life?" asked Erza taking in this new information.

"When we were fighting an army of soldiers, he was able to hold them off long enough for us to recover our strength and for the Edolas Fairy Tail to arrive," explained Gray.

"Whoa, you must be strong, fight me!" exclaimed Natsu getting excited about the possibility of a worthwhile opponent.

"Maybe, for now I've got to figure out a way to get back to my world," said Ace looking around as if hoping something would jump at him. Something did walk out of the woods, however it was not what he was expecting as it was in the form of a small brown cat standing on its hind legs.

"If you are hoping for something like anima to happen again, I am sorry to inform you that there is no possibility of it now," said the cat in a voice much more husky than their appearance made one think.

"Panther Lily!" exclaimed Gajeel recognising the voice. "What happened to you?"

"It seems as if Earthland does not match well with my constitution," explained the Exceed before turning to Ace. "Without the powers of anima, there is no way for you to return to my home world and therefore there is no way I can think of for you to return to your own world."

"I see," said Ace bowing his head in defeat, realising that he may have been clinging on to endless strings.

"Fear not though, for this can simply be seen as a new beginning," said Lily. "I for one was an enemy to Fairy Tail in Edolas but now that I can't return I seek to join the guild that took care of the prince."

"Start anew," whispered Ace.

"You'll keep your promise and get me in won't you Gajeel?" asked Lily pointing towards the Iron Dragon Slayer. Gajeel looked towards Erza, the S-class wizard giving him a nod of approval before he rushed Lily, embracing the Exceed in a vicious hug.

"Of course I will partner!" he said with tears of joy flying from his eyes. Meanwhile Lucy looked towards Erza as if asking a silent message, one which the red haired woman seemed to understand.

"If you wish to join you'll have to talk to the master," she said pointing to Ace, only to find that the pirate had vanished from sight.

"What the...?" said Happy.

"Where did he go?" asked Charle, looking around as if expecting an attack.

"Damn it, I can't smell him through all this rain," said Natsu angrily.

"What if he's heading towards town?" said Wendy in fear of what the pirate might do to the civilians.

"We can only trust that if he's gone to town that he won't do anything harmful," said Gray, causing the others to look at him. "I don't know about you guys, but I'd like to get back to the guild and make sure everyone's okay myself."

"Before you do that, I have another matter," said Lily. "I caught somebody suspicious."

"You mean the pirate man wasn't suspicious?" muttered Lucy but thankfully nobody heard her.

"A big catch right off the bat," praised Gajeel. "That's my cat for ya."

"Come here," said Lily yanking on the rope in his hands, causing a young woman with white hair and a Fairy Tail tattoo to be pulled into the open.

"I'm not anyone suspicious," stated the girl as she looked up at the people around her. Natsu froze in place as his eyes locked onto the girl, unable to find his voice. "I'm a member of Fairy Tail too."

"Lisanna," muttered Natsu, unable to believe what he was seeing.

"What's with this cat? Are you an Exceed?" asked Lisanna.

"I am Panther Lily," stated the Exceed trying to impose on her with voice alone, a little difficult when you're five feet smaller.

"You got a problem with my cat?" asked Gajeel supporting his new companion.

"But that's impossible..." said Gray unable to come to grips with the sight in front of him.

"Lisanna," said Erza in disbelief. Lisanna looked up from the Exceed and surveyed the people around her, her eyes stopping on the figure of Natsu standing there staring at her. The Exceed holding her could do nothing as Lisanna sprung from her spot, dragging Lily along as she wrapped her arms around Natsu in a hug.

"Natsu," she shouted in joy before the two came crashing to the ground. Pulling herself slightly upright, she looked down at Natsu with tear filled eyes. "Finally, I get to see you...I get to see the real Natsu." In an instant Panther Lily had been dragged away again as Lisanna got her hands around the blue Exceed and was nearly crushing him in her arms. "Happy, it's me Lisanna." Her eyes shot upwards, recognising two other people. "Gray, Erza, this brings back so many memories! These must be new guild members I gather, a small Wendy and Lucy!"

"Hold on a sec, don't tell me you're our Lisanna?" asked Gray. Everyone stared at the white haired girl as she knelt there with a smile on her face.

"Yeah."

...

"I told you, I can't pay for a room now but I'll pay you back when I get some money!"

"Sorry sir, but I'm going to have to ask you to leave."

Ace grumbled a number of curses under his breath as he walked down the side of the river having been rejected by the sixth hotel he could fine. Despite rain falling all around him, he didn't feel it on his skin, his eternal heat ensuring that he stayed warm. He had found that in this new world he had complete access to his powers, but he figured like the other world there was a limitation as to how long he could fight or how many times he could regenerate body limbs.

Looking around, he found a lot of houses along the riverside had their lights still on, the owner still inside and partaking in whatever activity they so desired. He found one house however that had no lights on, not even a lamp outside to show the way in. Looking around from side to side to make sure he wasn't being watched, he leapt up to the top story to find himself looking at a window and thankfully for him, it wasn't locked. Once again he looked around to see if he had been spotted before entering the small window, closing it behind him.

Clicking his fingers together, Ace summoned a small flame no bigger than one would find on a table, the small light being able to illuminate the room quite well. It was well kept, that much he could tell but he didn't take the time to squander over such minute things, his eyes quickly attracted to the bed. Silently praying that whoever owned the house didn't return for the night, Ace slipped under the covers of the bed, sleep quickly overcoming his senses.

...

Lucy walked through the streets as the rain began to clear, the joyful reunion between the three family members seemed to be happy enough that even the heavens themselves were rejoicing. Reaching her door, she unlocked it, allowing it to swing wide open, a burst of fresh air wafting through the room.

While she bore dirt marks and scratches all over her skin, Lucy opted not to have a bath, exhaustion taking its toll as she trudged up the stairs towards her bead, having done the journey so many times that it was second nature where everything was, hence there was no need to switch on the lights. With a groan she climbed into bed, the sheets already significantly warm to the point where she felt as if she was under the sun on a warm autumn's day, the feeling truly amazing. It was then that she rolled over and bumped into somebody else already sleeping silently in her bed. At first she wanted to scream but figured that it was probably Natsu considering that he and Happy had run off like they usually do and since they often broke into her house she figured this time was no different. Plus the fact that the bed was so warm made Lucy come to the conclusion that she was sharing her bed with the Fire Dragon Slayer.

After everything that had happened, Lucy didn't have the heart to wake up her friend and toss him on the ground, and so long as she and Natsu kept their clothes on it technically wouldn't be counted as 'sleeping together,' despite sleeping together. It was like how she imagined a brother would treat her sister if they were scared of lightning, by allowing their sibling to sleep alongside them.

Once she had mentally talked herself into thinking that nothing was wrong with the whole situation, she snuggled down underneath the blankets before allowing herself to succumb to sleep.

"Morning Lucy," said Natsu cheerfully as he climbed through the window, the ever present Happy by his side. Lucy woke up, rubbing the sleep out of her eyes as she looked at the pink haired boy and the sun burning brightly behind him. She blinked in confusion a couple of times as she still felt the presence of the person she had slept alongside the prior night, her fingers touching his torso confirming that fact. Her head began to shake nervously as she forced herself to turn around, slowly finding herself looking at the pirate she had only met the prior evening.

Needless to say, now she screamed.

...

**Hope you enjoyed, peace out.**

**Jizang: Will there be more people from One Piece...undecided as of yet as I'd have to think of a legitimate way to get them to come into the Fairy Tail world without the simple, Earthland is actually an island on the Grand Line.**


	5. Chapter 5

**Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece or Fairy Tail**

**...**

"What the hell!" shouted Gray as he looked out the doors to the guild. Lisanna had just reintroduced herself to everybody only to be knocked away by an overprotective Elfman. That was not the reason for his gasp of shock however, rather it was due to the pillar of fire travelling at an increasing rate towards the guild. Only by quick reflexes was he able to create a wall of ice which prevented the flames from breaching the doors.

"What's going on?" asked Levy as the ice receded to find Natsu swinging wildly with his fists covered in flames as a bare-chested man leapt away from the attacks with ease.

"Fight like a man Natsu!" shouted Elfman.

"That's not a Fairy Tail mage," stated Droy.

"Shouldn't somebody help him, what'll happen if Natsu hits him?" asked Jet. As if possessed, nearly the entire guild rushed outside to make sure that Natsu didn't kill this newcomer. Lucy, who had been running in from the other side now found herself separated by Natsu and Ace. Lisanna, Gajeel and Gray quickly recognised the other person in the battle as Ace and knew that he should be fine.

"Stay still dammit!" shouted Natsu as he swung his foot around at Ace's face, only for the pirate to lift his own foot up and counter the blow with ease, something which only served to agitate Natsu further. With a wild punch, Natsu attacked forward only for Ace to grab the fist despite it being on fire. For a few moments everything stood still as the guild members unaffiliated with the pirate tried to figure out how he had grabbed Natsu's fist without it damaging him. They didn't get to say anything though as Erza charged forward, leaping into the air with her sword raised high, intending to attack the pirate who was attacking her friend.

Seeing the attack coming, Ace tightened his grip on Natsu before swinging him around with brute force, tossing him at the airborne mage. Erza quickly adjusted, catching Natsu before landing on the ground, her feet skidding across the ground until she came to a stop. "What are you doing to my guild members?" asked Erza threateningly.

"This is all a misunderstanding," said Ace trying to get them to calm down but to no avail as Natsu once again charged at him. Erza hesitated momentarily before going on the offensive. In the brief moment that no fighting was going on, Lucy had managed to cross the battlefield to where the rest of the guild was.

"Lucy-chan, what's going on?" asked Levy.

"Natsu's taken things out of hand," she explained through bated breath. "The pirate..."

"PIRATE!" shouted a number of the guild members who knew nothing of Ace. It was only moments later that a number of guild members rushed into the fray in an attempt to help their colleagues against the vigilante.

"Everyone stop," said Lucy but her voice failed to carry the distance as everybody wanted a piece of the pirate.

"There's no stopping them now," said Gray who had opted not to join the fight. Only a handful of people still stood outside the Fairy Tail doors, consisting of Lisanna, Mirajane, Levy, Lucy, Gray, Juvia, Gajeel, Wendy, Gildarts and the Master. In front of them was a pile of bodies trying to get their hands on the pirate for all that it was worth. It seemed to go backwards however as Natsu's attack hit Elfman across the side of the face.

"He's my opponent!" he shouted while still trying to get at Ace.

"Be like a man and let us help!" shouted Elfman who retaliated by punching Natsu with a fist made of stone, sending the dragon slayer careening into a number of guild members, many of whom took this as a sign of battle. Within seconds, the hunt for Ace was over as the guild members turned their attentions to one another, and from out of the pile of bodies walked an uninjured Ace.

"Are these guys always like this?" asked Ace.

"Kind of," replied Lucy.

"So you're a pirate?" asked Makarov.

"Was, that was back in my own world," said Ace.

"Your world?" said Gildarts.

"We've got a lot of explaining to do," said Gajeel as he headed inside followed by most of the guild who hadn't been involved in the fight.

"Shouldn't we stop them?" asked Lucy pointing towards the rest of the guild who were gladly attacking each other with everything they have.

"They'll be fine," said Makarov brushing it off.

"Honestly, how long have you been here now?" asked Gray.

...

"So that's how it is," said Makarov as Ace finished his story. Gajeel and Lisanna had gone first, explaining how the young teenager had gone to Edolas two years prior and how the rest of the guild had gotten involved. Ace then explained how an Anima had somehow been activated in his world and how he had been brought to Edolas. This of course then garnered an extensive piece of detail as to what Ace's home world was like, which led to Ace explaining his pirating ways. "Well since you are starting anew I see nothing wrong with accepting you into Fairy Tail!"

"Master," said Gildarts but he was silenced by Makarov.

"Fairy Tail isn't biased towards those whose pasts have troubled them," said Makarov, his wisdom resounding in his voice. His sight turned to Gajeel momentarily who to was a victim of the master's generosity. "Anyways, you seemed to be able to hold your own against Natsu quite well."

"Trust me, he can't hurt me," said Ace.

"Cocky aren't we," said Gildarts.

"From what I saw, I don't think there are many who could hurt him," admitted Gray, something which made the senior members of the guild anxious to test Ace out.

"What's say we have a little contest then, to see what level of missions we should allow you to be sent on beforehand then," said Makarov with a smile.

"Master," whispered Mirajane leaning towards Makarov. "You're not thinking of making him an 'S' class wizard straight off the ball are you?"

"No, but he doesn't know the system here, so he'll just be fighting to make a stand within the guild," whispered Makarov.

Mirajane nodded in understanding before searching through the drawers behind the counter, eventually pulling up a large stamp maker. "Where do you want your mark?" she asked of Ace. The former captain of the Spade Pirates pondered over this for a while before making his decision.

"How large can you make that thing?"

...

"Everybody, stop it!" shouted Makarov, quickly forcing the brawl to subside.

"Where's Ace?" asked Erza looking around the combatants she had been fighting, a number of bodies by her feet. She eventually found him, although not in the position she would have thought.

"Master, what's the pirate doing next to you?" asked Bisca who had somehow come out of the scuffle relatively unscathed.

"Everyone, I'd like you to meet the newest member of Fairy Tail," said Makarov with a smile, which caused a few people's jaws to drop. "The situation has been explained to me and I have seen fit to give this young man a new start."

"You're a member of the guild now? Fight me!" shouted Natsu, the prior attempt of fighting Ace completely gone from his mind.

"That's exactly what's going to happen," said Gildarts with calm authority, making many of the guild members sweat drop slightly.

"Call it a test if you will, Ace here wishes to test his skills against other members of Fairy Tail to see where he stands," explained Makarov.

"As a man, I gladly accept this challenge!" shouted Elfman.

"So the new kid is making an open challenge, this should be entertaining," said Freed.

Erza said nothing, however she knew that she was going to put her name down on the people wanting to face the newest member of the guild. "The fights will take place down on the beach and will consist of one on one battles," explained Makarov. "This could be a great opportunity to test your skills against an unknown opponent. After the battles done, we can celebrate a new member and a returning member in the way only Fairy Tail can!" Makarov's words resounded through all the guild members and a number of people suddenly became excited.

...

Natsu stood on the beach, the sand seeping through the gaps in his toes. In front of him was Ace, the newest member of Fairy Tail standing firm with a metal pole in his hand. Standing to the side was the rest of the guild, anxiously awaiting to see what spectacle awaited them.

"Hajime!" shouted Makarov and instantly the battle burst into life as Natsu charged at Ace with less speed and vigour than before, the prior battle having knocked some of the wind out of him. With his fists flaming once again, Natsu unleashed a ferocious combo of attacks on the former pirate captain only for Ace to knock each one to the side by the barest of margins so that their skin missed by mere millimetres.

"Did we actually ask him if he could use magic?" Gildarts asked of the master whose face dropped momentarily as Ace kicked Natsu in the chest, sending the dragon slayer back a dozen metres. With the distance now in between them, Natsu smirked as he inhaled deeply, charging up one of his most formidable attacks.

"Karyū no Hōkō!" In an instant, a blistering hot torrent of flames shot from Natsu's mouth completely covering Ace in the unbearable heat. Many of the guild members had to look away from the flames before Natsu finished his technique. Near the water's edge, the ocean nearly boiled from the fire, yet standing in the centre of where the torrent had scorched the sand was an unharmed Ace, small flames still leaping off of his skin.

Wendy, who had already been preparing to use her magic to heal Ace, couldn't help but watch in awe as Natsu once again charged at Ace, only for him to find the end of Ace's pole sticking into his throat. For the longest of moments nobody moved before, "Winner: Ace!"

Makarov's announcement sent mixed emotions through the guild. "What, he didn't win, we're still going!" shouted Natsu disappointed with the outcome.

"There'll be more chances," said Makarov calming Natsu down. "Who's up now?"

"I'll be a man and take this challenge!" shouted Elfman but as he made his way towards the battlefield he was stopped as a sword was held in front of him.

"No, I will," she said sternly and for once the loudmouthed Elfman found himself silenced. There was an ominous gasp as Erza walked forward, her armour chinking against itself as she walked across the sand. Natsu begrudgingly moved away from Ace, kicking the sand at his feet before making his way next to Lucy who smiled at him who forced a smile back at the celestial magic user.

"Why did you fight him?" asked Lucy.

"Because he was in bed with you," grumbled Natsu which caused a fierce blush to spread across Lucy's cheeks, the teenager wondering if Natsu knew exactly what he had just said.

The guild watched in silence, the S ranked mage who stood with her sword by her side, the newcomer who had survived Natsu's Fire Dragon Roar without so much as a burn. It was one of their strongest mages against a man who could walk through flames unharmed with magic unknown. "Hajime!" shouted Makarov and in a flash the battle commenced.

...

**Hope you enjoyed, sorry for the delay. Thanks for the suggestions on the characters, as to whether or not anymore characters will appear from the OP world, not sure as of yet.**

**Please review.**


	6. Chapter 6

**Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece or Fairy Tail**

...

Unlike Natsu, Erza stood her ground momentarily, fixating herself into a defensive stance that could be used for counter attacking rather than a head on charge. Since she had no real knowledge of what type of magic Ace used, she had no real preference in selecting a specific armour for the occasion. It also didn't help that she hadn't had enough time to regain all of her strength from her battle against her Edolas counterpart; undoubtedly she would need another nights rest before she was at 100%.

Seeing the open invitation, Ace opted to charge forward, his feet seeming to glide across the ground as he covered the distance much faster than anybody had anticipated, the pole in his hand cutting through the sand. Erza's grip tightened on her sword as she prepared for the first strike. A small smirk crossed Ace's face as he came to an abrupt halt just outside of striking distance and whipped his pole out of the ground, showering Erza in a blanket of sand.

"Fight like a man!" shouted Elfman, disliking the cheap move.

Having not anticipated such a move, Erza took a few jumps back in order to clear her eyes of the grains of sand which blurred her vision. "He's got a smart head on his shoulders," said Gildarts to which Makarov could not counter. Ace stood there, waiting for Erza to finish clearing her eyes which she took as a slap to her pride, her enemy giving her the time to recover when he could have clearly taken the advantage.

"I'm waiting," stated Ace, twirling the pole between his fingers over his head. Taking this as an invitation, Erza sprung forward her blade held in two hands behind her. With a fierce battle cry she swung her blade, expecting Ace to parry it without little trouble. Ace made his move again, but instead of blocking the attack he struck the sand once again, creating a blanket which shielded the two from sight. To the guild members, they could only watch in anticipation as Erza appeared on the other side of the sand haze, her blade held in front of her as she turned her head over her shoulders.

"You got him Erza!" shouted Natsu in success before his joy came crashing down as the sand settled, revealing Ace standing there unharmed.

"You did not block my attack," stated Erza, holding her blade in front of her. In fact she was entirely certain that Ace had not dodged the attack in any way shape or form, however she had had to close her eyes in order to keep her sight for later in the battle.

"Didn't I?" asked Ace, a playful smirk lingering on his lips.

"He's purposely provoking Erza?" questioned Bisca, wondering about the man's sanity.

"He's forcing her to make the mistake," said Freed who was standing nearby. "Unfortunately for him, such tactics have minimal effect on Erza."

A shimmering glow enveloped Titania as she requipped to her 'Flight Armour,' a shortsword appearing in each hand as she was clad in cheetah patterned garments.

"So this is your magic," analysed Ace as Erza charged at him at much faster speeds, sand being kicked up with every step she took. "I guess I should show you what I'm capable of then as well."

With a war cry, Erza struck at Ace, her blades landing a direct hit as she skidded past, turning around to survey the extent of the attack only to barely block the pole which had been swinging towards her face. Through reactions alone was she able to force her second blade downwards to block the fist which had been targeting her stomach. "Good reflexes," commented Ace.

Erza said nothing as she focused her eyes, wondering how Ace had walked out of her attack unharmed. Lifting her elbow, she tried to catch Ace off guard but he brushed it to the side but had to drop his weapon in order to do so. Erza smiled as she took a small step back before swinging both her swords overhead towards the defenceless Ace, only for him to kick the pole off of the ground and into his hands, lifting the weapon to block Erza's attack. While it may have temporarily negated the attack, the vibrations from the attack were too much for the pole to handle and it broke within Ace's grasp.

This time it was Ace's turn to take a leap back as Erza pushed forward, her armour making it so that Ace was only barely able to avoid her attacks. On more than once occasion, Erza could have sworn that her attack had skimmed across either Ace's torso or face but there was no evident damage. Meanwhile, a number of thoughts were rushing through Ace's head. '_So I can let a number of attacks go through me but I can feel it deplete my power, although it is nothing like the rate it was like back in the other place. Also when that pink haired fella attacked me with fire I didn't feel any stress on my strength. I need to figure out enough of my strengths and weaknesses so that I can survive in this world.'_

Erza thrust her blade forward, and Ace sidestepped the attack, grabbing her wrist as she did so. Instantly, he let heat surge into his hand and Erza screamed in pain as she felt fire burn into her skin. Gritting her teeth, she struck at Ace's exposed torso but watched in shock as her attack went straight through the former pirate, flames lingering in the gaps where her blade had passed. She didn't get much time to recover though as Ace tilted his head back and forth, his forehead connecting with Erza's, sending the knight stammering back a couple of steps.

"An elemental body like Juvia's," said the water mage.

"So that is how you've been taking my attacks head on," said Erza, coming to grips with the situation.

"So that's why Natsu's magic didn't work," said Happy.

"I'll beat him next time," said Natsu boldly.

"An interesting magic he's got there," said Gildarts, intrigued with the demonstration the pirate was putting on.

"He's been toying with her this whole time," analysed Makarov. "I imagine he has been using this as a way to test his own limits, for even strong magic like that must have some weaknesses. I imagine regenerating the body parts would take an immense amount of magical power out of him. While physical magic has had no effect I can't help but wonder what other forms of magic would do."

"Are you thinking of putting him in the S-class exam?" asked Gildarts in a hushed whisper as to avoid being overheard by the rest of the guild.

"He has the strength and the right mindset, but we will need to see how he goes on missions," said Makarov turning his attention back to the fight.

Realising she needed to take this to a different aspect, Erza requipped into her 'Black Wing Armour,' the dark armour giving her much more defensive protection as its wings extended. Holding the broadsword tightly in two hands, she leapt into the air, her wings helping guide her as she descended towards Ace with tremendous speed.

"Enkai!" shouted Ace as he swept his arm to the side, flames glistening from his fingertips as it created a ring around his body before he crouched down, preparing his attack. "Hibashira!" shouted Ace as the fire covered him in its entirety before it shot up into the sky, a blinding pillar of heat which caused many guild members to look away.

"I want to eat it!" said Natsu excitedly which caused Gray to slap him across the back of the head for only thinking about food. Erza who had been directly in line with the flames came skidding out of the heat, her armour once again changed to that of the 'Flame Empress.' Yet despite wearing fire resisting armour it was clear that the S-class mage had still taken some damage.

"This is getting intense," said the ice mage, knowing that the conclusion of the fight would likely be soon.

"Physical attacks seem to have no effect on him," muttered Erza wondering about her options. A recent memory of a battle surged through her thoughts and she charged forward, intent on testing her theory. Ace placed his elbows by his waist and allowed fire to sit at his fingertips. "Higan!" he shouted, firing a number of small pellets of fire at the charging Knight. Erza took this in stride as she sliced through the attack, parrying the shots which would likely do more damage. Getting within striking range, she swung her crimson blade with a single hand, the attack fazing through Ace without little consequence. He would be sent flying back however as Erza sent her fist directly into his face, the pirate skidding across the sand as he felt a trickle of blood escape his nose.

"Now that's interesting," he said, as he wiped the blood in between his fingertips. While it had been one of the first attacks he had taken in a long time, he was surprised to the amount of damage a single strike had done.

"It would seem he is not invincible after all," said Makarov to which Gildarts nodded.

"That does not mean though that that is the only weakness he carries," said the S-class mage, wondering if he should have a shot at the teenager now knowing the boy's strengths and weaknesses.

"So while you can allow physical magical attacks to phase through your body, a single punch unaided by magic can do damage," stated Erza, as her armour began to change again, this time to her 'Morning Star Armour,' her hair tying up on top of her head into neat buns. It hadn't been long since the last time she had donned this armour, the most recent battle having been against her Edolas counterpart and while it had taken some damage she had a theory which needed to be tested. Slamming her twin swords together, magical energy began to store at the tips of the blade. In an instant, a large beam of energy shot out of the swords, travelling towards Ace at a remarkable rate.

As it travelled towards him, Ace could instantly tell this was not something he would come out of unscathed and with no time to dodge, he resulted in putting his arms in front of his face in an x shape as he took the attack head on. Only against the fight against Jimbei had he felt such pain as he was pushed backwards, his feet unable to get a grip in the sand but he still stood tall. The attack eventually came to an end and as the beam came to a close, Ace still stood there, panting significantly with smoke trailing from his skin.

"It seems pure magical attacks seem to be his other weakness," said Gildarts.

Despite having been bested in that instance, Ace couldn't help but smile. Looking up as his skin went about repairing itself, he could feel the toll the attack had taken on his body and enjoyed the rush of excitement he felt. His eyes focused on Erza, who was once again charging forward in her 'Flame Empress Armour,' her sword having been discarded as she opted to strike with fists alone. Ace wondered what good the armour would do for her as he took a step back, pulling a single fist back as he prepared to unleash the attack which had made him feared across the Grand Line. As soon as his foot landed however, he felt all power drain from his body and it became a struggle to stand up. Looking down, he found the source as he had not checked his surroundings and only now did he notice the last attack had pushed him to the water's edge, his step backwards having landed in the water with a splash. Looking up, he had little time to react as Erza struck him once again in the face, sending him splashing across the water.

"Winner: Erza!" shouted Makarov to which the guild members cheered loudly for. Erza took a moment to acknowledge her fellow nakama before turning to Ace, to find him unmoving with his face down in the water.

"Is he silently drowning in a foot of water?" asked Gray. For the longest of moments, nobody did anything as if expecting Ace to come to his senses yet for a whole minute he didn't move. Finally snapping out of her uncharacteristic stupor, Erza walked through the water and picked Ace up by the shoulders, the man of fire coughing and spluttering out a great deal of water.

"You put on a great show young man," said Makarov from the shoreline. "I must ask however, it seemed at the end there you were planning a fierce attack but it was cut short, any reason why?"

"I lose all my strength when I make contact with water," explained Ace as he pushed some of the water out of his eyes.

"It does make sense," said Gray, thinking it over. A man of fire touching his opposite element would surely have some sort of consequence to his abilities, but to think it had that sort of effect was astounding.

"He's just like Natsu with trains," said Happy which only caused the dragon slayer to look at the flying cat with a fist clenched.

"Be that as it may," said Makarov in a neutral voice before his spirit lifted exponentially. "It's time for the celebrations to begin!" Needless to say, this was met with a thunderous applause as the guild members rushed towards the guild, intent on having a party like only Fairy Tail could.

...

**Hope you enjoyed. **

**Darthjontan: Thanks for picking up the error. I usually write my stories late at night so small details like that often slip my notice.**

**GoddessofNight08: Sorry it took so long. Gomenasai.**

**Pirate Queen ofthe 21****st**** Century: I've actually devised a plan for a lot later down the track which suits into the storyline perfectly for Luffy and the crew to make their appearance, however they are not going to be like they are after the 2 year gap period, need to make their strengths reasonable after all.**

**White9angel: Yea, I removed the romance section...but that doesn't mean I won't include fluff.**


	7. Chapter 7

**Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece or Fairy Tail**

**...**

To say that the guild was full of life would have been an understatement. All around people were celebrating the only true way that they knew how…highly over the top. Alcohol was being drunk by the barrel, and it wasn't only Cana who was indulging in such an act. She had found herself a fine drinking buddy in the most recent addition to the guild. Ace clanged his mug against Cana's, some broth spilling over the edge and splashing on the ground before the two merrily placed the mug's to their lips and downed the alcohol with ease.

"How is that you can keep up with me?" asked Cana, her eyes narrowing to look at Ace.

"Because I'm a pirate, that's why!" shouted Ace in a robust voice as he dunked his tankard into the barrel, effectively pouring himself another. Before he drank it though, his eyes focused around the room at the activities that his new nakama were indulging in. In the corner he could see Juvia trying her best to get closer to Gray, instantly being able to see that the water mage had a crush upon the ice wielder. He wasn't the only one to have apparently noticed, standing behind them looking awkwardly at the pair were the partners Bisca and Alzack of whom he had met shortly after the fight. He was incredibly happy that he was good with names otherwise he would have already forgotten about half of the people he had met only hours ago. The two gun users of the guild shared a look with one another before quickly turning their heads, commenting on how wonderful it was to have Lisanna back in the guild.

Ace's eyes than shifted to one of his earlier opponents in the fire breathing Natsu, the pink haired dragon slayer telling stories of his time in the other world and of how everybody here was the polar opposite. Ace had noticed that as well with his brief fight alongside the Fairy Tail of Edolas as his eyes watched Happy fly over the room to where Juvia was, asking the blue haired woman to listen to his story as Gray's attention was on Elfman. The white haired man seemed to be dead certain that if anybody so much got close to Lisanna with crude intentions, not only would he send them flying but the chances of them surviving the blow were minimal. A small smirk crossed his face as he remembered his time with his two brothers, of how when Sabo originally set sail he had protected Luffy with everything he had, despite the younger boy having the power of a devil fruit. He raised the tankard to his lips, opting to drink this beverage a little slower than the last.

His mind drifted back to the grand line, of the adventures he had had out on the open sea. Finding a crew, traversing up reverse mountain and of how he adventured onto one of the fiercest seas in the world. Even of how he had been given the option to become one of the seven warlords but had chosen to refuse the governments offer. It was a decision he didn't regret, he didn't like being bound by rules and regulations of society and he enjoyed the freedom he was given. Joining the guild however, that placed him under a new set of laws set by a different government. He had talked to Makarov earlier about the advantages of joining a guild and how it offered protection to its members. Even so, Ace had asked to get a larger stamp ordered in. Mirajane had explained that it would take upwards of a week for the stamp to arrive but that didn't particularly phase Ace. In the end he may not even receive the guild insignia, but those were thoughts for another time as he found his wrist being grabbed and tilted at an obscure angle, forcing all of his drink down his throat.

Coughing and spluttering his way through, he eventually made it to the end of the tankard before his wrist was released. "What was that for?" he asked, wiping his lips with the back of his hand, looking at Cana.

"You weren't drinking fast enough, we have a competition going here!" she cried as she picked up her tankard and quickly refilled it. Before she could put it to her lips however, Ace grabbed her wrist which caused her to look at him confused.

"We're going to have to put this contest on hold for the moment," he said as he placed his tankard on the table.

"Giving up, or do you want to start a different type of game?" Cana asked, her voice tweaking if only slightly.

"I'd rather not my first impression to everybody else be me passed out on the bench," said Ace, getting to his feet. Despite having drunk so much he stayed surprisingly mobile, his body swaying if only slightly.

"Have it your way then," said Cana as her eyes drifted off elsewhere to where Gildarts and Makarov were having a conversation, a sombre mood caressing her face as she looked at the two high powered wizards. Ace viewed the look momentarily and wondered what the young woman was thinking about before he felt an arm sling over his shoulder.

"You put on a good show today, like a man!" said Elfman, his voice seeming to echo through Ace's mind.

"Good to know," said Ace as he patted the man's back, Elfman in return smiling broadly.

"I also heard you protected my sister over in Edolas, and for that I must thank you," said Elfman. "From the bottom of my heart, I must call you a man!"

"I'd be scared if you called me anything else," muttered Ace as the big man began to cry. "Can somebody calm him down?"

"Elf-nichan, don't harasses Ace," scolded Lisanna, the younger sister to the brutish man separating the two.

"I'm just so happy to have you back Lisanna," said Elfman as he hugged his sister. Immediately Lisanna's eyes darted towards Ace, pleading for him to help release her from the man's bone shattering hug although she would never say it out loud.

"Your problem now," said Ace as he walked off, chuckling slightly as Elfman loosened his grasp slightly, allowing Lisanna to breathe in once more.

"Ace, fight me!" shouted Natsu, running at the fire man.

"Didn't I beat you earlier?" asked Ace as Natsu leapt in the air, fire surrounding his fist.

"That was before, no way am I going to lose now!" proclaimed Natsu as he swung at Ace, the fire man twisting to the side before rotating back as fast as he could, driving his knee into Natsu's sternum. Immediately bile escaped Natsu's mouth as he crashed to his knees. Seeming to have the victory, Ace began to move forward to associate more with the rest of the guild and as such didn't notice the smile spread across Natsu's face.

"Did you think that attack would put me down?" asked Natsu as he recovered, turning around and charging at the exposed back of Ace before a metallic fist crashed into his face.

"That's enough Natsu," said Erza, her voice radiating with power causing the dragon slayer to back down.

"Yes mam," said Natsu, shaking slightly. Satisfied, Erza turned her back on Natsu to look at Ace, the pirate's back still facing the two. A silence seemed to fill the room as people watched, wondering if Erza would start a confrontation which she was usually the one to end said fight. For a minute nobody moved, as if the display was one of the most fascinating spectacles they would ever witness.

"You weren't using your full strength," stated Erza, her fist unconsciously clenching itself.

"I just got into this world, I don't even know what my full strength is yet," replied Ace, finally turning to look at the scarlet haired woman.

"Even though you use fire magic, I know you have another technique, one far more powerful than the fire attacks you were displaying earlier," stated Erza, to which a murmur quickly arose. Even Ace raised an eyebrow, unsure of what Erza was implying towards.

"I remember that as well," said Gray walking forwards, his shirt having gotten lost somewhere along the way.

"Back in Edolas, when we were surrounded by those soldiers, you did something," said Erza, as if walking through the procedure with a child. "In a single moment, you caused everybody around us to fall unconscious, as if you used a high powered sleep spell without a single incantation." Ace remained silent, intriguingly listening to the story. He knew what the knight was talking about, but to actually hear that he was one of the rare few who had access to that power surprised him…as he thought about it further he realised it made perfect sense. There was one person whose ability in that technique was unequalled, that bastard also happened to be his father.

Gajeel, who before the confrontation had been telling Wendy how much better Panther Lily was in comparison to Charle, focused his eyes on the newest member of the guild. Unlike the others who were unable to use any magic when they had first arrived, Ace had been able to use such a powerful spell with little to know effort. Until the fights upon the beach, he didn't even know that Ace had had any fire magic. Before all else though, Ace had been able to use a spell without eating one of the special balls that Mystogan had given him earlier. This made him wonder if the magic he had was natural or if he had some sort of lacrima installed in him as a child, and through that he was able to cast a spell in Edolas.

Makarov and Gildarts, while they hadn't heard of this spell before, couldn't help but be impressed. In a single instant to go from a scene where you are being surrounded by the enemy to knocking them all out without so much as moving an arm was nothing to be sneezed at. Needless to say Fairy Tail's master was going to need some one on one time with the newest member in order to find out just what secrets the former pirate held.

"What do you want have to say for yourself?" questioned Erza.

"I have nothing to say," said Ace, his gaze still fixated on the door ahead. Erza resisted the urge to take a step back, knowing that there were only a handful of people here who had the guts to stand up to her without fear.

"Oi, if we're going to be fighting together..."

"We're not," said Ace, cutting off Gray. "Not until you allow me to have my privacy." Turning on the spot, he walked past Erza, the bold knight still standing there fixated. Turning around she saw him at the message board, with a flick of the wrist he tore a mission down, having seen it earlier when he had been given a tour of the guild. The mission was a simple one, go to Mount Hakobe and retrieve three pelts of Vulcan fur for a clothes store.

Briefly showing it to Makarov, he got a solemn nod of approval which he had been told was what he needed to do in order to properly accept the mission. His steps down the hall seemed to echo, the party seeming to have stopped to watch him move onwards. "Is it alright sending him out like this?" asked Gildarts, directing the comment at his superior.

"He's gone in between three worlds in such a short space of time, he's going to need some time to get accustomed to how we do it here at Fairy Tail," said Makarov, to which Gildarts nodded in understanding. Stepping out the door, Ace turned his attention towards the sky, noticing how the blue scenery seemed to be the only thing the same with his world. In honesty, he wasn't quite sure as to why he had snapped like he did but knew it had to do with the power he had seemingly inherited. He wasn't sure how they would react if the guild discovered that he was the son of a man who single handily created a new era in pirating, somehow though he believed it wouldn't end well. Recalling when he was young, he often reacted in the same way when somebody mentioned his father's name, at least now he had the sensibility not to punch them in the face repeatedly. Turning his attention elsewhere, he looked at the flyer in his hand and the mission it contained.

"Alright, go to mountain, kill the creatures and take their pelts, easy done," he said as he continued walking. "Just going to need a knife," he mused wondering where around town he could go in order to get the right equipment. A sigh escaped his lips as he realised that he still didn't have any money to purchase such a simple tool.

"Ace-san," said a voice calling after the fire man, to which he turned around to find one of the guild members running towards him. From behind them he could hear the guild and saw through the doors someone go flying across the room, and he imagined that somehow a fight had broken out.

"What do you want?" he asked as they closed the distance, but just before they reached Ace they tripped over their own feet, their face connecting with the cobblestones with a minor thud. "You alright?" asked Ace as he helped them back up to their feet.

"I'm fine thank you," they replied.

"So why are you following me?" asked Ace.

"Master didn't want you to go alone and wanted somebody who had been to Mount Hakobe recently to go with you since to go up and back should take seven hours," they explained.

"Well do you have money for transport for both of us and enough left over so I could buy a knife?" asked Ace to which he received a small nod. "In that case I'm going to need you to come."

"Thank you, I'll do my best," they said as they clenched their fists together.

"By the way, I don't think I caught your name earlier, who are you exactly?"

"I'm Wendy," replied the blue haired girl smiling.

"Well Wendy, let's get going," said Ace as he turned around and began to walk again, the young girl walking next to him with a smile on her face.

...

**Hope you enjoyed.**

**Hiira: I wasn't really all that clear in that spot but it all gets explained next chapter.**

**Hypothetical Spiritual Energy: That's the thing though, watching the battle between Juvia and Erza there is a moment when Juvia gets kicked in the stomach when Erza is wearing the sea empress armour. All of the attacks I have ever seen done on Juvia have been magic based, I haven't actually seen a moment where she is actually attacked by an attack not centred around magic other than that one. As such, I thought I'd give Ace the same problem. As to whether or not I'm depowering him too much, if he starts at 100% potential there is no room to grow, and thus all of the battles would become rather bland. However if you keep reading there will be a point in the next chapter where everything concerning that becomes clear.**

**GoddessofNight08: hehehehe, sempai.**

**Allan Marton: Like how I explained with HSE, I'll break it down for you. In this world, the way I see it the Devil Fruits are akin to how lacrima can be stored within the body (such as how Laxus's father infused the lightning dragon slayer lacrima into Laxus). As for him taking a punch, call it absurd all you want yet I'm basing the fact he can take physical attacks akin to where in Alabasta Smoker was sent crashing into him. Being Ace and with your logic, he could have turned into an ethereal being and allowed Smoker to go through him with little to no effort. Anyways, before you bitch at me again, the attack gets explained in the next chapter if you wait patiently enough.**

**Risa20: Will my plot follow the main story line? Keep reading and find out (smirks evilly)**


	8. Chapter 8

**Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece or Fairy Tail**

...

Those who had been near the Mount Hakobe couldn't believe the spectacle they witnessed that day. For the first time in what seemed like decades, the sky above Mount Hakobe was clear; not a single cloud surrounded the peak. On a much closer level though, they would have seen two individuals walking up the slope taking it one step at a time. Turning to look over his shoulder, Ace saw that Wendy had her arms wrapped around her chest to provide a bit of warmth, although it was clear she was shivering. While he had radiated some heat off his body to stop the blizzard from raging, he knew that the girl would still be feeling some of the cold. He wished he had a shirt or something of the sort to give her but he hadn't thought that far ahead, plus he hadn't even known what type of weather conditions it would be like on this mountain. So instead, he stopped for a moment and held out his hand.

"What..." started Wendy looking at the outstretched limb.

"Grab hold," he said, to which Wendy slowly obliged, the wind still biting at her skin. As she grabbed Ace's fingers she could immediately feel the warmth radiate through her being, his hand hot to the touch but in comparison to the climate around her she much preferred the heat. Closing the distance, she could feel the warmth flowing from Ace's body, caressing her like a brotherly hug.

"Thank you," she said with a smile as the two continued to walk up the hill, Ace still holding her by the hand.

"You know," said Ace getting Wendy's attention. "While over in Edolas I got dragged into a fight between the army and Fairy Tail. I even ran into your Edolas self and saved her life."

"You did!" said Wendy in awe, recalling her encounter with the older version of herself. Ace nodded and figured it would probably be best if he didn't explain the next sentence to her, not wanting to corrupt the blue haired girl by having to explain activities which may have occurred had he not been teleported out of Edolas. Hell, by the time he was Wendy's age he was only just starting to have lessons in manners taught to him by Makino. She carried about an air of innocence that he never had, and he'd be damned if he was the one to destroy it.

"Anyways, there's a cave up ahead," said Ace pointing to where he could see an opening within the mountainside. "What's say we go get ourselves some fur?"

"Okay," said Wendy enthusiastically as they made the last fifty steps up the slope to where the mouth of the cave opened up to reveal a wide open area, the walls glistening with ice, even some of which hung from the ceiling. "Ace-san, if the ice melts because of your fire and the water splashes on you will you lose your power?" asked Wendy recalling what had happened down at the beach.

"I should have been a bit clearer before," said Ace rubbing the back of his head. "While water does affect me pretty badly, salt water is the worst of all. If I fell in the sea, I wouldn't be getting out by myself, without a doubt I would drown to death. Yet at the same time, with fresh water I can do things like wash myself without it draining me entirely of my strength."

"I think I understand," said Wendy absorbing the information.

"Alright, so now we've got to track down these vulcans, you ever seen them before?" asked Ace not actually knowing what a vulcan looked like.

"I haven't seen one, but I have read about them," explained Wendy. Before she could continue her explanation however, the cave shook slightly, the icicles dangling above threatening to fall. Ace watched as a big gorilla like animal charged at him. "That's a vulcan!" shouted Wendy as the silver furred animal got closer.

"My cave!" it shouted as it swung it's fist forward, punching Ace viciously across the side of the head with so much force the attack seemed to go through Ace's body.

"Ace-san," said Wendy before she felt a furry arm wrap around her stomach.

"Young human woman," it said with a lusty expression, its gaze completed fixated on Wendy who could only whine in fear. It stopped however as it felt a quick ping as its eyes rolled into the back of its head. Wendy was only just able to get out of the way as the body fell to the ground lifeless, a curved dagger sticking out from the back of the vulcan's skull.

"That's not the proper way to treat a lady," said Ace as he pulled the dagger loose.

"Y-You killed it," said Wendy in disbelief, having never seen anything truly die before.

"Think of it as a mercy kill," said Ace. He could have followed up by stating he could have killed it in so many other more painful ways but could see from the look on Wendy's face that that particular method would not go down well. "We have to strip these creatures of all their fur and then take them back to the shop. If we left them alive, they would likely freeze to death up here."

While Wendy could see the reasoning, it didn't make her like the situation. Having grown up being able to heal things with her magic, the thought of taking life as a way of the better situation had never really occurred to her. "You might want to look away, because this is the bad part," said Ace as he twirled the knife in his hand. As he descended towards the dead vulcan with the intention of skinning it, Wendy covered her face with her hands, not wanting to see the horrific display. It took several minutes of careful slicing, but eventually Ace had managed to get all of the fur off without having to hack specific chunks into pieces. He recalled a time when he had been on a Winter Island along the grand line and his men hadn't gathered enough warm clothes in order to ensure their safety. He had then gone to the island and tracked down a pack of wolves before he killed and skinned all of them so that his men had enough warmth to traverse the island. As such he had taken a good deal of effort ensuring that the fur remained intact all the way through, although most times it didn't truly end up like that.

"One down," he said as he got to his feet. Wendy was about to remove her hands when she felt Ace's hands twist her around a hundred an eighty degrees. "Trust me, you don't want to see it."

Wendy couldn't respond in words as she and Ace made their way deeper into the cave. "Ace-san," she said after they had been walking in silence for about a minute. "Why didn't you use magic to k-kill it?"

"Nobody's going to pay for a burnt piece of fur," said Ace as he pulled the flyer out of his back pocket. "It says that the fur needs to be in top quality and if patches of it have been on fire, chances are that's not really classified as top quality."

"But still..." started Wendy turning away from Ace.

"Death is a natural part of progression," said Ace sternly, which caused Wendy to look up at him. "In any world, those who stay on top of the food chain survive the longest."

"It doesn't have to be like that!" shouted Wendy.

"It does," said Ace in a calm tone. "What would carnivorous animals eat if they didn't kill another animal?" Wendy took a step back at that as she suddenly realised just how much death there was in the world. Walking past the butchers she could see the meat he had on display but she had never attributed to the fact that all of that food had come from something that had lived. Tears began to swell up in her eyes but she felt a warm palm press itself against her shoulder.

"Wendy, I'm not going to tell you that killing is the right thing in some situations, but I myself have sent hundreds if not thousands of people to their deaths," said Ace which caused Wendy's eyes to go wide with shock. "Men who sought to kill and capture me I showed no mercy towards, people who had friends and family waiting for them to return. I was a criminal, a man who was looked at like a cold blooded murderer. Be that as it may, I lived in a world where if you break the rules you will be caught and tortured without mercy by a government who wishes to rule every continent the way it sees fit. The people I killed knew who they were fighting and didn't back down, they chose not to turn their back on me, knowing that they may die. The dead deserve our respect, even the creatures we kill for food."

"What rule did you break?" asked Wendy.

"The rule that you should always be governed by a higher authority. Those who have power believe they have the right to rule over everybody, there were even people who would kill innocent civilians if they didn't bow when they passed," explained Ace to which Wendy raised her hands to her lips in shock. "The one thing I can honestly tell you, is that I've never even imagined of injuring a child, yet even they aren't privileged enough to move in front of one of these guys without being brutally executed. These people are free to do whatever they want because they are the highest royalty imaginable, and the everyday people suffer because of it. Now let me ask you Wendy, am I really the villain if I oppose such people?"

Wendy couldn't respond, the only royalty she had ever heard about had been in fairy tales she had been told as she had been growing up. In those situations, the royalty always ensured that their people were always treated kindly, but clearly the pirate knew differently. "D...Did these people take somebody from you?" asked Wendy, having heard the emotion in Ace's voice.

Twisting slightly, Ace showed Wendy the tattoo on his arm. "When I was a kid, my brother and best friend always dreamed of going out to see and becoming pirates," he explained as he pointed to the crossed out 'S.' "Since he didn't like the way his parents treated him, Sabo ran away from home, and to make sure he wouldn't get caught he got on a boat and set sail. In a tiny fishing vessel, a ship carrying one of the world nobles shot at him with a cannon, twice, just for getting in the way. When I heard the story, I cried for the first time in years. Deep down I knew, that if I ever ran into the person who had taken my best friends life, despite how much trouble I would be in, I would deal upon him what he dealt to Sabo."

"That's horrible," said Wendy struggling to prevent the tears coming from her eyes.

"The government does what it believes is right, even before I was born the marines killed any child who they feared may have been the son or daughter of my father, simply on the basis that they may have been my father's child. Any woman who looked suspicious was killed without reason. Kids who have never seen war and people who know not of suffering have different values, but those who stand at the top decide what is right and what is wrong," concluded Ace.

"I think I understand," said Wendy trying to come to grips with the terms she had heard. In her own head, she imaged the magic council being run by dark guilds and what the effects could be. People would legally be injured on the streets, thievery and death would become a common occurrence, yet if the world was run by a dark guild then it would be okay in the eyes of the governing body. Suddenly, as she looked at Ace she couldn't help but see him in a different light, the fact that this man would risk his own life in order to directly challenge the governing head; the same time however she prayed he didn't do something stupid to anger the magic council. Her memory quickly recalled how Ace had explained how people had killed women and children while searching for him because he carried his father's blood. She opened her lips to question him about it but was cut off.

"Look, more monkeys," he said pointing to where three of the vulcans were charging at him. "If I take the two left ones, can you take the one on the right?"

"Of course," said Wendy as she turned to face the oncoming stampede.

"That's what I like to hear," said Ace as he prepared himself.

...

Several hours later, Wendy and Ace had arrived back in Magnolia, the pelts tightly held under Ace's arm. After having defeated the vulcans, Ace had offered if Wendy would have liked to skin the one she defeated but she got queasy at the idea. Needless to say they had finished their mission and the store owner was happy with what they had been given. A quick exchange of money later and Ace found himself holding twenty thousand jewels. When he had first heard that the monetary system here was called jewels he thought he was going to get paid in sapphires and rubies but clearly it wasn't to be. As a bonus for having brought the furs back in such a fine condition, they were also allowed to take a single outfit of their choice.

Wendy went through the dresses until she found a jade green one which had yellow stripes running down the sides. Ace however was a bit more thorough in his selection, knowing that he didn't need something as common place as a shirt (although he kept in mind for future reference the need for a shirt when heading back up the mountain in case anybody wanted an extra layer of clothing). When he eventually walked out of the store, Wendy gazed at his new appearance. Black boots with thick tread which looked like they could grip on any surface tightly clung to his feet. He adorned a new pair of shorts, once again sticking with the black colour although a brown belt kept it around his waist. Ace had also grabbed two pairs of necklaces made out of connecting red beads, one placed around his neck and the smaller one sitting along the rim of an orange hat.

"What do ya think?" he asked.

"It looks good," replied Wendy

"By the way, here's your cut of the pay," he said handing her half the money.

"Eh, but you did most of the work Ace-san," said Wendy unsure why she was being given ten thousand jewels.

"Be that as it may, your work was also just as important, without you I wouldn't have been able to get there in the first place," said Ace with a smile. "Trust me, you deserve it."

"Thank you," she said with a smile. "By the way, earlier on when you got attacked by the vulcan, how did you take no damage? It punched you and didn't Erza punch you earlier and injure you?"

"It did, and honestly I was surprised when the attack went through me," said Ace honestly. "It may have been something to do with the armour Erza was wearing. I think I heard somebody in the crowd explain that it halved the offensive capabilities of fire magic. In a sense then, we can assume that it can attack fire directly. So it wasn't really her fist doing the damage, but rather the armour."

"That makes sense," admitted Wendy as she thought it through. "Anyway, let's head back to the guild and master we finished the mission."

"Might as well wait until morning," said Ace looking up at the sky. They had arrived at the shop just before it was closing for day and now the night had come about and stars glistened across the dark sky like fireflies.

"I guess so," said Wendy. "Do you have somewhere to stay Ace-san?"

"I'll figure something out, I've camped in the wilderness enough to know how to get by," he said with a smile.

"Okay then," said Wendy as she turned around. "I'll see you at the guild tomorrow."

"It might not be so bad here after all," said Ace as he lifted his finger, finally feeling relieved as his finger brushed against the fabric of the hat, Kami how he missed that feeling. Heading in roads until he was walking along the side of a river, he wondered whether or not he should bother spending his money on an inn for the night when he recalled how much forest was on the outside of town. It wouldn't take him long to make a shelter, tracking down some food may take a while as well. His thoughts were cut short however as a piercing scream sounded through the darkness of the night before a large splash in the river sent a wave of water straight up into the air. Ace blinked for a moment, before Lucy's head surfaced from the water gasping for air, her cheek swollen up quite badly.

Coughing and spluttering, she made her way to the river's edge where she grabbed hold of the wall and hauled herself up. Grumbling to herself, she lifted her head to find a hand near her face offering support. "Need a hand?" asked Ace, a devilish smile caressing his lips.

"Ace?" said Lucy, wondering where the former pirate had come from. She pushed it to the back of her mind as she took the offered hand. As she got to her feet, she found her wet clothes drying remarkably quickly as she saw small fireflies like balls circling around her, bathing her in both heat and light.

"Don't touch them," warned Ace as he saw Lucy reaching upwards. Lucy quickly obeyed his command and stood still as the small embers went about their job before she found herself completely dry within the time space of a minute. As he finished his job, he lowered his hands causing the small embers to extinguish into nothingness.

"Thank you," said Lucy.

"Any time," replied Ace.

"You know, you're a lot different now than you were earlier on in the guild," said Lucy noticing the personality difference.

"Some bad memories got brought up," he said nonchalantly. "Anyways, I should get going."

"Wait, where are you heading?" asked Lucy.

"Somewhere, find some shelter for the night and hope it doesn't rain I guess," he said with a shrug of the shoulders.

"You can stay at my place for the night," offered Lucy. Ace's eye rose slightly as Lucy continued, "I have Natsu, Gray and Erza staying over all the time, space isn't a problem. Think of it as a way of saying thank you for what you did for us in Edolas."

"Well it would be rude of me to say no," said Ace remembering his etiquette lessons with Makino.

"This way then," said Lucy leading Ace towards her house.

"Hold up a sec," said Ace causing Lucy to stop.

"What is it?" asked the celestial spirit mage.

"Natsu's not going to try and kill me in the morning is he?" he asked warily, not really wanting to wake up with a fist in his face.

"If you're not in my bed you should be fine," said Lucy brushing it off but made a mental note to put a note on the window explaining to the Dragon Slayer not to attack the newest member of the guild. Yet Lucy didn't know that her night was going to go from bizarre to just pure crazy within a very short period of time.

...

**Hope you enjoyed.**

**Dreamwritergoddess: That's a long way off, can't say I've thought that far ahead.**

**Hypothetical Spiritual Entity: Hope this chapter explained the issue.**

**Juniperlei: It's explained now...isn't it?**

**Dead zeppelin: Giving him haki now would just be mean. Give it time.**

**Peace out!**


	9. Chapter 9

**Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece or Fairy Tail**

**...**

Finding people in her house was not an uncommon thing for Lucy. Since she had first moved into Magnolia, she had been plagued by constant visits from Natsu, Gray and Erza, even now she had the temporary gatecrasher in Ace who was in her living room as she stepped into the shower. She believed that the former pirate was not going to peek on her, however that wasn't her main priority as she discovered Cana naked in her bathtub.

...

Outside the bathroom, Ace heard Lucy scream and his face shot towards the direction of the door. However, when he heard no sound of a struggle, he figured that the celestial mage had just seen something that had frightened her. With a shrug of the shoulders, he returned his attention to the paper in front of him and the story that Lucy had been writing. Before he reached the end of the first page however, his head slump forward as a sudden need of sleep overtook his body and he passed out.

...

Coming out of his sleep as the sun was beginning to rise, Ace stretched his body before looking over at the bed to find Lucy sleeping soundly. However by the looks of it, it had been a reckless night as she had kicked at her sheets in her sleep and now they lie on the ground unmoving. Silently, he walked over to her bed before he picked up the sheets, gently laying them over her body. A small smile graced his lips before he moved towards the window, opening up the frame and jumping out to the ground below. He looked over his shoulder once more at the house he had slept in before he started walking towards where the guild stood at the end of town.

All around him, life started to be clearly seen in the paths and walkways as civilians went about on morning runs or shopkeepers went about preparing their store for the day. Ace relished this feeling, walking down the middle of town without the feeling of being attacked at any given moment by marines or bounty hunters. Even though he was immune to nearly every form of attack, as he had discovered here, nobody was immune to damage. With a sigh, he tipped the front of his hat upwards slightly, knowing that from now on this world would provide him with a challenge much like those he encountered in the jungle as a child with Luffy; the fear of death however only caused him to smirk in anticipation.

His mind wondered to that of his brother in Luffy, wondering what the rubber boy would think of this world. He could see the similarities between Luffy and Natsu and wondered whether or not they would be friend or foe, constantly fighting one another to see who was the stronger. Even though Luffy had never beaten him, even once, he believed that one day he would grow strong enough to fight him on equal terms. The chances of him beating Ace however, that made the man of fire chuckle.

Reaching the guild, he pushed open the door to find that the guild was nearly empty, although the effects of the previous party were still obvious. With a broom in hand, Mirajane was the only person doing work on the floor while Kinana stood behind the bar cleaning up the mountain of dishes which had been left over. "Morning Ladies," said Ace which caught their attention.

"Ace, how did the mission go yesterday?" asked Mirajane with a smile on her face.

"Completed, and I managed to walk Wendy through some of the lessons she would have needed to learn later in life," said Ace being vague on what exactly he had taught the blue haired girl. Knowing the protective attitude of Charle, Ace didn't particularly want an earful on how he opened Wendy up to looking at things from a different perspective.

"No problems with the customer?" asked Mirajane, the same placid smile still gracing her face.

"None at all," said Ace satisfied.

"That's good to hear," said Mirajane as she went about her task. Ace couldn't help but smile considering Mirajane's complacent attitude, knowing full well that the smile would not be leaving her lips for a long time to come. Making his way over towards the request board, he looked over the available missions to see if anything caught his fancy.

"Let's see, courier mission, hunt down bandits in woods, judge a food eating competition, what types of missions don't we get offered?" mumbled Ace as his eyes scoured across the board.

"Ace, you're here early," said the wise voice of Makarov as he walked across the room towards where the former pirate stood.

"I'm a light sleeper," said Ace with a smile, not really wanting Makarov to know about his narcoleptic condition just yet.

"That's good, there's something I wish to discuss with you concerning some events which will be happening tomorrow," said Makarov.

"What kind of events?" asked Ace.

"Let's go to the roof and we can discuss it in private," said Makarov as he started to walk away. With a shrug of the shoulders, Ace opted to follow the small man as they made their way up the nearby flight of stairs, walking in silence as they continued ascending upwards until they reached a hatch which Makarov pushed open, allowing the two to be showered in the morning light. Closing the hatch behind him, Ace leant against a nearby pillar, crossing his arms across his chest as Makarov's eyes settled on him. In the streets below, the grounds slowly began to grow as more and more people stepped out of their homes to make the most of the day ahead of them.

"So what's so private that we can't let the ladies downstairs know about?" asked Ace as he looked at the guild master.

"That was an impressive performance you put on yesterday, not many within the guild are able to go toe to toe with Erza on such a level, and the way you fought Natsu without even needing to rely on magic will help him progress further," said Makarov.

"Last I checked, praise didn't need to be secretive," said Ace, keeping his eyes on Makarov.

"It's not so much how you fought, but rather who you fought which makes things interesting," said Makarov as his eyes sharpened slightly. "Your power is something that is rare within the magic world, had you actually been using your full strength against Erza then it is possible that the result of the match could have been very different."

"I don't even know what my full strength is at the moment," said Ace nonchalantly. "Those two battles yesterday were able to help me gauge my limitations."

"Be that as it may, you were able to take out a candidate for the 'S-class' exam with ease and then fight against Erza who is considered to be one of the strongest in the guild and an 'S-class' mage herself."

"S-class?" asked Ace unsure what the term referred to.

"S-class is the term used for wizards who are capable of tackling higher level missions which have a greater risk of injury and failure," explained Makarov. "In order to get into such a high degree, it takes a particular test that I'll create and a number of combatants will do their best to come out on top. Once a year we hold the test and if there is a winner they become classified as being an S-class wizard."

"I take it you want me to be a part of this test," said Ace.

"The nominees are going to be listed tomorrow and while I was going to ignore you at first, considering you have been at the guild for no more than a day, whilst walking here I was approached by the shopkeeper you worked for yesterday. He explained to me how the job was done better than he could have ever expected and praised you with highest honours."

"I was just doing my job," said Ace with a shrug. "Had it been a task of greater difficulty, I can't guarantee that it would have turned out the way it did."

"Be that as it may, I want to give you an offer," said Makarov which caused Ace's eyes to widen slightly. "If you can complete three missions today, of any difficulty, and I receive the same amount of praise that I did today, I will see that you will find your way into becoming a nominee for the S-class exam. What say you?"

Ace stood there for the longest of moments, allowing the offer to sink in. Turning his gaze towards the rising sun, he knew that there was only one decision he could make.

...

The following day, all of the guild members stood around a stage expectantly; many of them watching in a state of awe while others were hoping that this year would be their year to reach the next level. While many knew what to expect, there were a few such as Lucy and Panther Lily who weren't quite sure what was going on, the only thing Lucy knew was that it somehow related to how everybody wanted to go out on missions yesterday. Seeing friends become rivals in an instant only to become friends again just as quickly was frightening to say the least. As the curtain rose, only one person didn't have his attention directed towards the stage, the most recent addition to the guild in Ace had little opinion with who the nominees were, having been told everything the prior day.

Shouts of joy erupted from the guild as Makarov stood in the centre of the stage, Gildarts, Erza and Mirajane standing on either side of him. "Fairy Tail, as we have done since days long past, I will now announce the participants in this year's S-class wizard advancement test!" announced Makarov to be met with a thunderous applause.

"Quiet down everyone," said Erza as she settled the crowd in an instant, none daring to challenge the word of Titania.

"This year's exam will take place on Tenroujima," announced Makarov. "It is a holy ground for our guild."

"Holy ground huh," said Ace as he picked up on the select words. "Wonder if I made the right decision after all," he concluded as he rose his tankard up to his lips.

"Each of your powers, hearts and souls, I have judged them to this day, there will be eight participants," announced Makarov which caused the guild members to mutter to themselves. In a proud voice, he began listing all those who would be competing. "Natsu Dragneel! Gray Fullbuster! Juvia Lockser! Elfman! Cana Alberona! Freed Justine! Levy McGarden! Mest Gryder!"

The final name caught Ace's attention and his eyes shifted over to the man in focus. He had thought that he had met everybody within the guild but then this bloke had appeared as if out of nowhere. However, his recollection of the prior day's talk with Makarov was still fresh in his mind.

...

"_I'm going to have to decline your offer," said Ace with a sigh. "Having been here for only so long, it would be unfair for those who have been here longer, those are the ones who truly deserve the chance at becoming an S-class mage. Anyways I don't even carry the guild stamp on my body yet, I think that disqualifies me from contention."_

"_For a man with a pirate background, you sure carry a lot of honour on your chest," said Makarov as a smile graced his lips._

"_I do what I can," said Ace._

"_Well if you had accepted my proposal that would have made you the eighth member for the exam, I guess there'll just have to be seven this year," said Makarov. "Now let's head back downstairs, I need to induct you into the guild my own personal way."_

"_I take it that means with the pleasure of alcohol joining us," said Ace with a smirk._

"_You're going to fit in here perfectly."_

_..._

Ace was no longer able to hear anything that was being said by either Makarov or any of the guild members, his attention solely on Mest. He recalled that Master had stated that there would only be seven competitors. Had this man been out on an extended mission and only now that he had come back had Makarov decided to add him into contention, or was there something else about him. With determined eyes, Ace knew that he had to get to the bottom of this for the sake of the guild.

As the dust from the announcements settled down and everybody returned to their normal routines, Ace's eyes trailed Mest as the S-class nominee made a beeline for the door. Placing his tankard on the counter, his drink half finished, he weaved in and out all of the guild members as he exited the building, keeping Mest within his sights. There seemed to be no reason as to why he would leave so quickly, surely he would want to socialise with those who he worked alongside. Nothing seemed to add up. With a determined look on his face, Ace trailed Mest, determined to find out what his secret was.

...

**Hope you enjoyed.**

**Asredwer: The problem with that though, is that if I overuse it then it loses its effect, so I have to be careful about where he falls asleep.**

**Orchamus: If I knew how to answer that I would.**

**Deadzepplin: Just keep reading, he will end up on Tenroujima, the real question is how.**

**Draco Oblivion: Yea, he's got a hat, it's awesome.**

**Erza01: I update at sporadic moments, I have no real set date as to when I want to update any of my work. While this is a hassle at the same time this allows me to focus on other things in life besides my writing.**

**RG: One day, just not today.**


	10. Chapter 10

**Disclaimer: Do not own One Piece or Fairy Tail**

**...**

Ace was always an overly cautious man, it came with having a price tag placed upon your head whether it be brought in dead or alive. One of the fewer things he hated more than when people came after him, was when they put his friends in danger. While he hadn't gotten to know the guild members well enough to call them true friends, he felt a warmth with them that felt reminiscent of that of a family, a warmth he had never felt in his life other than with Luffy and Sabo. Now with this unknown assailant seemingly having randomly appeared in this mix, he wanted nothing more than to protect this family with all his might.

"Hey Mest wait up," said Ace as he jogged to catch up to the retreating form of the wizard. Mest turned around, focusing his eyes sharply at Ace who patted him on the shoulder as he caught up.

"I'm sorry who are you?" asked Mest, unsure as to why he had been approached.

"You haven't heard the news of the latest guild member?" asked Ace, trying not to arouse too much suspicion. "You make it sound like you appeared out of nowhere today."

Mest's eyes sharpened slightly as he looked at Ace. Realising that he needed a diversion and quickly, he picked up a nearby plant. "I want to know what this flower tastes like," he said as he bit the petals off the flower as if it was an everyday thing.

"I've eaten a strange fruit before, and unless you have some serious mental condition you would not try to avoid my appearance so readily," said Ace. "Just wondering, when did you get back from your last mission?"

"Two days ago, I'd been out on this mission for a month," stated Mest. Coinciding this information with the information that Makarov had given him the prior day, Ace immediately realised that something was amiss with this character.

"You know, I don't really approve when people lie straight to my face," said Ace, heat beginning to radiate off of his body. "Your background story may be good, but if you had gotten back two days ago you would have realised that there had been a pirate attack on the guild. I have to say, your background is a solid one and for some reason or another, it ain't working on me pal."

'_How is he not affected by my memory magic, everybody with a Fairy Tail insignia should be under the spells effect,'_ thought Mest as he wondered why his spell had failed to pick up on this single person. "That incident, I heard about it but since everything seemed sorted out I thought there no need to bring up such a thing," he said.

"That pirate was me," said Ace. "Now on my pirate crew, whenever a crewmate sought to cause harm to another member of the crew, I would not hesitate to take my own justice upon them. If you only seek to hurt the members of this guild in any way shape or form, I will not hesitate to do the same."

His message getting across loud and clear, Ace walked away with a stern look upon his face. In order to make sure nothing happened on this test, he needed to get onboard the S-Class ship in any way that he could. Making his way back to the guild, he was nearly bowled over as Natsu came charging past, Happy flying by his side. "Ace, when I become S-class, you and I need to fight again," shouted Natsu over his shoulder, not slowing down for a second as he sprinted through town.

"I feel like I missed something there," said Ace as he shrugged his shoulders before stepping back into the guild hall. Looking around, he needed to discover a way of getting to the island without arousing any suspicion. He couldn't go directly to Makarov on the situation as he himself was under this spell. With a stride in his step, he walked over to where a number of the S-class nominees were seated. If he asked if he could be their partner, he would become suspicious of master as he would have rejected the chance to go only to seek going in another form. "What's happening?" he asked casually.

"We just finished picking who our partners are going to be," said Gray, sticking a thumb at the orange haired man standing behind him. "Elfman's the only one here who hasn't chosen yet but he's asking Evergreen right now."

A resounding smack sounded out as Ace slammed his palm into his forehead, his plan swiftly having been tossed mercilessly out the window. "I do not believe we have met," said Loke as he eyed the former pirate.

"Name's Ace," he said extending his hand.

"Loke, otherwise known as the celestial spirit Leo," introduced the lion zodiac.

"That's...easy to comprehend," said Ace taking it in stride as he had more important things to think about as of the moment. He wondered if it was right to purposely injure one of the partners and offer to take their place but he pushed the idea to the back of his mind, regretting ever having thought of the idea. An accidental injury in a spar was understandable, but to purposely seek to hurt someone that was a comrade seemed more than dirty. "Just wondering, where were you guys setting sail from again?"

"Hargeon and making our way to Tenroujima," said Juvia.

"Cheers...there's a library downstairs isn't there?" asked Ace.

"That's right," answered Lucy.

"Good, there's something I need to check out," said Ace as he walked towards the stairs, leaving the rest of the guild members more than a little confused. On his way down he passed Erza who looked over her shoulder at the former pirate, wondering what he was up to. Leaping down the stairs that connected to the library, Ace looked around at the number of books that were lined up along the shelves. "This is going to take a while," he said as he looked at the number of documents in amazement.

With a sigh, he took his hat off and placed it on a nearby table as he started looking at the books nearby. "Where would I find a navigational chart?" he murmured to himself as he ran his finger across a number of books.

"What are you planning on doing with those charts?" asked Erza having come down to see what Ace was doing. Ace wasn't shocked by her appearance, he had expected one of those he had asked where the library was to come down and see what he was doing so he had actually been expecting company.

"I'm a pirate, remember, I can only take so long on land before I head out to sea again," said Ace.

"Despite the fact that you lose all of your strength the moment you touch seawater?" asked Erza, seeing a contradiction in the statement.

"I take the quote, 'Live every moment like it's your last,' to a whole new meaning, don't I," said Ace tossing the scarlet haired woman a smile over his shoulder. "Ever since I was young I wanted to set sail, no matter what the danger. Guess you could say I'm still chasing childhood dreams."

"Childhood dreams huh," said Erza deep in thought. "Would you be coming back?"

"I'd hope so, but the seas a dangerous place so I can't give you any guarantees," said Ace as his eyes focused on a bunch of scrolls sitting nearby. Erza slowly started walking towards him as he pushed a number of scrolls out of the way until he came across an exceptionally large one. Pulling it out, he gave it a quick look over before unrolling it across the floor. Somehow he had managed to grab the one he was after and as his eyes glanced over all of what he was after a small smile graced his lips.

"So what's your plan?" asked Erza.

"If I had a plan it wouldn't be an adventure now would it," said Ace trying to get the S-class mage off of his back as he committed as much information he could to memory. Using the scaling system to what he could figure, he knew that he'd have to leave much earlier than the ship the guild would be using in order to not be spotted at any stage otherwise his entire plan could collapse around him. He would also need money in order to purchase a boat, renting one would only cause him to fall into a lot of debt if it were to somehow not make it back from his voyage. "Curious, you know how much a single person boat would cost me?" asked Ace.

"A sailing boat won't cost you too much, maybe thirty thousand jewels," said Erza. "However they have been working on ways to get magic users to channel magic through a lacrima which creates an engine of sorts which propel the vessel forward."

"How much would one of those be?" asked Ace.

"Last I saw they were near the eighty thousand, maybe ninety thousand price range," said Erza.

"Ninety thousand huh, looks like I'm going to have to pick up some work," said Ace as he rolled up the scroll. Placing it back on the shelf, Ace turned towards the exit only to find that Erza was standing at the base of the stairs. "Can I help you?"

"Promise that no matter what happens, you'll come back," said Erza flatly, her voice unwavering in her declaration.

"That's a pretty hard promise to make," said Ace rubbing the back of his head.

"Promise me, or you're not leaving this room," said Erza threateningly.

"Threatening someone for safety's sake, haven't seen that one in a while," said Ace with a chuckle feeling somewhat nostalgic. "You have my word Erza, I'll come back."

"You better," said Erza as she turned and marched up the stairs.

"So under all that armour you hide a very fragile and caring personality, you learn something new every day," muttered Ace out of earshot as he made his way up the stairs. Once again he found himself subject to the boisterous sound of the guild as he made his way over to the request board where Nab was standing. "Anything of interest?"

"Oh Ace, a new batch came in a minute ago, I'm looking to see if there's anything that's specially made for me," said Nab hopefully.

"Good luck with that," said Ace as his eyes scanned all of the flyers, not focusing on the money or the actual quest, but rather where the quest was located. Like lightning his hand flashed out and tore a sheet off the wall, before he pulled another sheet, and then another mission request before he grabbed a final one. Looking at the four in his hands, he quickly added up the totals and was happy to discover that if he got through all of these with little hassle, he should successfully have enough money to get one of these boats Erza was talking about. Walking over to where Master was sitting on the bar, he showed the wizard saint the missions he was about to set off on.

"Heading to Hargeon are we," said Makarov looking straight at the destination all of the missions were located.

"Reckon I need to have a look round a port town, feeling a bit nostalgic," said Ace with a smile.

"Good luck then, might see you there when we come pass if you're still in town," said Makarov mimicking Ace's smile.

"We'll see, catch you round Master," said Ace as he turned and headed towards the guild door. Before he exited, his eyes gazed around at all of the people laughing and having fun with one another and he knew that everything he did from now until he had solved this mystery wasn't for him, it was for them. His guild...his family.

...

**Hope you enjoyed.**

**Asredwar: Find out soon, won't we.**

**Sakura240: At this moment, I am prepared to add people from the One Piece world into the world of Fairy Tail and I've already decided on who. The hardest part was figuring out how they were going to appear in the world.**

**Peace out and please review.**


	11. Chapter 11

**Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece or Fairy Tail**

**...**

"Will that be all sir?" asked the merchant as Ace handed over his payment.

'_I just gave you nearly everything I earned over the past week,' _thought Ace knowing not to let his rage show in such a situation. "That's all thanks, could you have it down the harbour in the next couple of hours?"

"Certainly sir, we hope that our product meets your expectations," said the clerk with a bow to which Ace returned before he walked out of the shop. He stopped for a moment, adorning the smell of the ocean. When he had first arrived in the town with a list of missions in hand the first thing that had struck him was the scent he had come to know and love. Unlike Magnolia where the smell of the ocean was faint, to be surrounded by fishermen selling merchandise and people laughing whilst constructing ships made him feel nostalgic. As he was reminiscing however, he left himself completely vulnerable as he was tackled from the side, knocking him to the ground as his attackers grappled him mercilessly.

"We got you Ace!" shouted the children playfully as they laughed cheerfully.

"Oh no," shouted Ace as he scrambled to his feet, quickly running off as the children gave chase determined to get him once again. One of the first jobs he had been required to do, and undoubtedly the funniest one he had selected, was to entertain at a child's birthday party. He arrived not a moment too soon as the kids were beginning to become reckless, shooting fire on to the top of the candles adorning the birthday cake was just the beginning. Since that day whenever they spotted him they began to chase him relentlessly as if it were a game, a game which Ace gladly played along with, the simple entertainment bringing a smile to his face every time it occurred. It was also a way to brighten up every day, considering he had only taken the four jobs that were meant to last six days, not the brightest ploy on his part.

"Ace is that you?" asked a man from nearby which caused Ace to skid to a halt, the children crashing into him moments later which sent them tumbling through the streets.

"We got you, we got you!" shouted the children enthusiastically as Ace lifted his head to where Gildarts was standing.

"What you doing here?" asked Ace, ignoring the fact that there were children climbing all over him.

"The ship for the exam on Tenroujima leaves in half an hour," explained Gildarts trying to keep a calm face despite looking at the rather hilarious scene. "I thought with your level of skill you would have already headed back to Magnolia a couple of days ago, those missions you took were not of the highest difficulty."

"Call it a vacation," said Ace as he struggled to get to his feet, a child still desperately clinging to his back. "Since I am still getting used to how things operate on this world I opted to just hang around a town a while and relax. These guys however have made it very difficult."

"That's not nice Ace-kun," squealed the children as the one on his back pulled at his ears.

"A vacation huh, sounds nice," said Gildarts deep in thought. "Maybe I should go on one once the exams are finished."

"I'd recommend it," said Ace smiling.

"Anyways, I best be going, I'll see you when the exams are over," said Gildarts as he turned and walked down the street nonchalantly waving over his shoulder. A wicked smirk graced Ace's lips as he knelt down to the kids' eye level.

"I'll give you guys 50 Jewels to spend on candy if you go tackle the red haired man like you tackle me," said Ace tossing the coins up and down slowly, making them rattle for extra effect.

"Done," said the eldest taking the money. Ace didn't even need to turn to see the effects his payment had caused as he walked towards the shops, he could hear it from where he was standing.

...

"There goes the last of the money," sighed Ace as he held a telescope within his hands. He hadn't been able to afford the fancy magical telescope which magnified an object in the distance to ridiculous proportions but he wasn't all that fussed, he just needed a telescope good enough to keep the Fairy Tail ship in sight. Since it had an hour and a half start on him however, it made the task a lot more difficult and if he didn't have extended eyesight he would have no chance of spotting such a tiny object in the distance. He also couldn't allow himself to get too close to the target, otherwise it would arouse suspicion if he was spotted and sub-sequentially a lot of trouble would occur. He needed to go about this with as much stealth as possible.

Walking down to the harbour, he spotted the Fairy Tail ship setting sail from the dock, it's mast picking up a grand deal of wind which pushed it away from the shore. Taking a seat on a nearby bench, he opted to simply wait for his new one man boat to arrive. Loping his head back, he stared at the blue sky and the numerous seagulls flying high in the air above ground level, circling tirelessly in search of food. It was in this position however that Ace would suddenly fall prey to a sudden burst of sleep.

...

"Wake up Ace-kun!" shouted the children playfully having finally found the sleeping fire-man. Ace opened his eyes groggily, lifting his right hand to rub at his eyes.

"What?" he asked unsure of what had just happened.

"You've been asleep for three hours," said the eldest child. "We've been trying to wake you but nothing would work, we were just about to toss a bucket of water over your head but we thought it would hurt you since you're made of fire so we decided not to in the end which was probably a good thing now that I think about it because water puts out fire so I think water would also put out a person made of fire."

'_He said all that in a single breath?'_ thought Ace impressed by the supernatural feat before his memory quickly recalled the first thing he had said.

"How long have I been asleep?" he asked as he sat up.

"Nearly three hours," answered a young girl standing nearby. That was all Ace needed to hear as he leapt to his feet, charging down towards the harbour as fast as his legs could take him. He could hear the kids behind him screaming in joy as they gave chase but this time he had no intention of slowing down so that they could catch up. As his feet connected with the wooden planks of the dock, his focused eyes noticed the shopkeeper he had spoken to earlier sitting next to his purchase.

"Ah, there you are, I was wondering where you had gotten off to, I almost left a number of times," said the salesman but Ace opted not to answer, rather he leapt onto the small vessel. Quickly gaining his balance, he shot a small flame from his fingers which severed the rope connecting the boat to the dock.

"Thanks," he said as he channelled fire through his feet, the lacrima behind his heels quickly absorbing the energy, propelling the small boat forward at a remarkable speed. Turning his head over his shoulder briefly he saw all the kids waving and laughing, yelling at him to come back and play soon but he paid them no heed as he looked forward, his eyes set on the horizon ahead. He'd already lost a great deal of time sleeping and as such hadn't gotten a good indication of which direction the boat had travelled once it had gotten it out of the harbour. He could recall from what he had read on the sea charts the direction that the boat would be travelling but at the same time he was unsure of things such as how the wind would affect the direction they travelled or the sea currents, there was a lot to take into consideration.

For half an hour, he just blasted forward in a straight line, water shooting off in a stream from behind the small boat. All the time, his eye peered through the small spyglass, observing the ocean in front of him for any sign of the guild ship. Finally he was able to see glimpses of the island, the giant tree in the centre sticking out like a beacon of some kind. Far off to the side, he spotted not one but seven ships all lined up heading towards the island at a slow pace, as if waiting for some kind of signal.

"I got it," said Ace as he slammed a fist into his open palm. "They're competing against other guilds in a round robin tournament of sorts, hence why there are more ships now. I guess then if I go and show off my new purchase it won't seem so bad, so long as Erza doesn't connect the dots I should be fine." Ace smirked as he altered the direction of his travel slightly as he started heading towards the small gathering of ships, hoping that everything turned out fine.

...

"I'm telling you I'm a member of Fairy Tail," said Ace calmly as he sat on the deck of the ship, movements restricted by the fact that he was stuck in a small square of runes that prevented all inside from escaping or using magic. It was just his luck that it hadn't been a number of guild ships which had gathered together but rather a fleet from the council that had been heading towards Tenroujima for whatever purpose it had.

"If that was so, then where is your guild stamp?" asked the magic council interrogator.

"I haven't been at the guild that long, I haven't received the damn stamp yet," said Ace in a slightly irritated tone.

"What's your name?" asked the interrogator, slowly becoming annoyed with Ace's seemingly laid back attitude towards the whole situation.

"Portgaz D Ace," said Ace calmly as a council member standing nearby flicked through a list of Fairy Tail members.

"It says here that a man under that name has recently joined the guild," said the man as he looked over the parchment. "However if he doesn't have a guild stamp there is no proof that it is him."

"Damn technicalities," said Ace as he closed his eyes in annoyance. He opened them once more, this time directing them to the one person who seemed to be in charge of everybody else. "So, what do you plan on doing? Surely you haven't come all this way to look at the guild island unless the council simply doesn't trust the guilds anymore."

"You sound like you were wronged in a past life," said the commander, no emotion showing across his face.

"Not a past life perhaps, but I can't help but notice that you avoided the question," said Ace with a smirk.

"We will be the ones asking the questions here," said the commander in an serious tone as if trying to threaten Ace. His voice carried little effect however as Ace's attention had shifted to the fact that small plants had seemed to sprout up from the boards of the ship.

"I think I'm hallucinating," he said as he rubbed his forehead.

"Don't try and play dumb," said the commander sick of getting the same sort of response out of Ace time and time again.

"Really, so there are small plants growing along the side of the railing then," said Ace pointing to the side. All attention shifted to where Ace was pointing only to find that he was indeed telling the truth and that plants had miraculously grown out of apparently nothing. Before anybody could state anything on the situation however, something unexpected could happen.

Along the side of the cliff, Wendy, the exceed and the infiltrated council member all watched in horror as the council ships exploded into a large ball of flames that climbed into the sky as the remains of the ship floated off in all directions.

...

**Hope you enjoyed.**

**KiraWani: I wish you luck in your crossover.**

**Reven228: I'm aware that Ace played a critical part in the One Piece world and I have had to construct an entire side story as to what would have happened if Ace had never appeared. It is from this fact that I am able to determine who is coming from the One Piece world with a legitimate explanation.**

**Son Goshen: I...uhhh...ssssshhhhhhhhh!**

**Peace out.**


	12. Chapter 12

**Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece or Fairy Tail**

**...**

Slowly, his eyes shifted in and out of focus, the carnage around him all too obvious. Everywhere he looked men were running back and forth, trying to get the ship into a working condition once again, the former pirate seemingly all but forgotten about. Placing his hands on the deck, he tried to push himself on to his feet but stumbled slightly, his ears still ringing from the sound of the explosion. Once more he pushed himself up, successfully making it to a single knee as he raised his head, the sound in his ears slowly starting to vanish. He had no way of knowing how long he had been unconscious for, having no way to protect himself from the blast he was sent straight into the side of the runes with enough force to knock him out.

As he got to his feet, a single hand gripping at his forehead as if he had spent the prior night partying with his crew, he looked about and found that the ruins that had once held him had seemed to be destroyed considering a good chunk of the boat was destroyed. He tried to step forward but ended up needing to lean against the mast in order to prevent himself from falling over. From his position, he looked to where the commander was standing, another man by his side. "Mest?" said Ace in a confused tone, tilting his head as he looked at the man he had seen a week earlier.

Dranbalt turned his head, wondering how anybody on the council ship knew about his Fairy Tail name. As his face focused on Ace, his eyes went wide slightly. "Ace, what are you doing here?"

"Dranbalt, did you just confirm that this is Fairy Tail's Ace?" asked the commander.

"Yes, that's him," said Dranbalt as his eyes focused. "What are you doing here?"

"Just checking out the sights, you know, nothing special," said Ace as he walked towards where the commanders were standing. "Oh and there's one other thing, wondering why somebody from the council infiltrated Fairy Tail?"

"How do you know I was from the council?" asked Dranbalt.

"The fact that you're talking to the commander of a council ship was a pretty good giveaway," snapped Ace, still unsure of what the situation was.

"Gentlemen please calm down," said the commander. "Ace, we apologize for our hostilities towards you earlier but this is not the time to be discussing such small disputes."

Ace's eyes snapped wide as his glare landed on the commander. "The council put my nakama at risk by infiltrating and you want to pass it off as a mere small dispute!" he exclaimed.

"Ace, calm down, Lahar means no ill will," said Dranbalt as he stepped in front of Ace.

"Now if you two will excuse me, I must tell the council to ready Etherion," said the commander as he turned towards what Ace considered to be a long distance communicator much like the den-den mushi.

"Lahar, give me time, I will get Fairy Tail to evacuate so that the casualties of allies will not be necessary," said Dranbalt as he turned around quickly and gripped Lahar's wrist.

"You have changed Dranbalt, you infiltrated Fairy Tail to discover a way so that the council could disband them, what has made you change?" asked Lahar turning towards his comrade.

"Wendy Marvel," claimed Dranbalt which caused a slight smirk to spread across Ace's face as he took a few steps to the side, looking over the railing to find that despite the explosions his own personal vessel had remained remarkably undamaged, or at least it looked like so.

"Nonetheless, let us contact headquarters immediately," said Lahar as he reached towards the communication lacrima.

"Give me a little time," said Dranbalt as he gripped Lahar's wrist and pushed it away from the lacrima.

"What are you..." started Lahar but Dranbalt didn't hear the end of his statement as he vanished from sight, taking the large communication device with him. As the council members bickered among themselves on this unprecedented change of events, Ace took it upon himself to jump ship, landing on his small vessel and channelling his abilities to send him rocketing towards the island. His central thought at the moment was that the council member who had taken on the alias of an ally was not as bad as he first thought.

Halfway towards the guild's sacred ground, small drops of rain started to fall from the sky, striking the fire man as he pushed towards the island. The small droplets burned at his skin, the amount of salt in the rain being much higher than normal due to him being out in the middle of the ocean, yet he paid it no attention as he sped onwards, his body recovering as quickly as it was damaged. It wasn't the rain which scared him at the moment, nor the fact that his ship wasn't as stable as he had previously thought it to be but rather the fact that somewhere on this island were people who had accepted him and they were in danger.

Ace's feet hit the shore with a soft splash of sand as he turned back towards his recent purchase and the pitiful state it was in. The small trip would likely have been its last, Ace having stepped on the central beam a couple of times to discover that it was badly cracked. Gripping the bow with both hands, he pushed with all his force to reveal the underbelly and discovered that his theory had been correct. "Damn it," he cursed as he released his grip, allowing the small boat to crash by the sand at his feet.

Turning around, he surveyed his surroundings, knowing that he was walking upon the guild's sacred ground. Despite that, he now knew in hindsight, that while his intentions may have been good they really didn't help when he had no true idea as to where everybody was at that given time. Running a hand through his hair, he gripped the hat that was hanging behind his neck by a string loosely tied around his throat. It was at that moment however that the entire island seemed to shake around him. Keeping upright somehow, he turned his attention forwards before his mouth fell agape as the large tree in front of him, the pinnacle of the island, began to fall.

Ace could do nothing but watch as the tree fell with a tremendous roar, branches of all shapes and sizes shattering as they hit the ground below. "There's one of them!" shouted a voice from nearby.

"Get him, Master Hades said that without the tree standing every member of Fairy Tail loses their magical power!" shouted another voice which caused Ace's head to turn slowly to find a number of masked people charging towards him, bladed weapons at the ready. The closest one struck forth with a spear, the weapon easily piercing Ace's body. While they gave a cheer of joy, Ace took it in stride as he felt no pain from the attack yet still felt the ever present sensation of the rain pelting onto his skin. With the enemy nice and close, Ace reached out and gripped the man's mask, his fingers becoming alight as he melted the mask and the face behind it. Screams of agony escaped the man's lips until they were tossed to the ground, still shouting in pain with what little strength they had left. Pulling the spear from his body, Ace looked directly at the other people who had been in the process of attacking him, nearly all of them backing away in fear. Without the slightest hint of remorse, he stabbed the man beneath him through the chest, ending the man's life in an instant.

"If you don't want to end up like him, tell me where this Hades person is so I can crush him myself," said Ace, his wound closing up in a matter of seconds. "To help persuade you, know that I won't be as merciful as I was to him."

Any thought of resiliency was quickly defeated as the people dropped their weapons as a sign of surrender, not wanting to fight somebody who still contained magical energy after the Tenrou tree had fallen, especially one who had an elemental body. "Five miles down the beach," said a female masked person as she fell to her knees, almost begging for her life.

"That's all I wanted to know," said Ace which allowed the members of Grimoire Heart to believe that they were safe, as Ace plucked the spear from the dead man's chest, he held it forth threateningly. "That does not forgive you for the sins you have caused upon this island."

It did not take long for Ace to dispatch of the dark guild members but he didn't go as far as to kill them like he had with the first man, keeping his word in that they would not end up like the deceased member of their squad. Dropping the spear and with determination in his eyes, Ace set off at a run, intent on doing his bit to assist the guild.

...

Hades paid no attention to the island as he looked out to the ocean in front of him. The tree had fallen nearly fifteen minutes earlier and he was expecting the rest of the members of his guild to return soon, undoubtedly with Zeref in tow. A wicked grin spread across his face as he pondered whether or not to check his crystal which would allow him to see the state of his guild members. He did not have the privilege however as he heard the door opening. Hades turned towards the sound of the opening door, fully expecting to see his guild members coming back. He did not however predict that a pirate would walk through his doors with malicious intent radiating off of him.

"Oh, what have we here?" he asked coyly as he looked at Ace walking towards him. "One of Makarov's children actually made it here alive?"

"You sound like you're surprised," said Ace as he planted his feet on the ground, the water droplets on him evaporating as he began channelling his ability.

"It either means you made your way past my forces with strength alone, or you're a coward who got here by mistake," said Hades, analysing Ace with his single visible eye.

"Neither, this was the only place I was ever heading," said Ace as his fist erupted into flames. "I'll show you what it means to mess with my nakama!"

"If you so wish it, entertain me brat!" said Hades as he beckoned Ace forward. The former pirate needed no second invitation as he charged forward forming a spear of flame in his hand which he tossed forward as an opening strike. As he figured, the master of the dark guild extinguished the attack with a swipe of his cape. Following up his attack, Ace went to strike at Hades directly, kicking at the man's head. The elderly mage ducked beneath the strike and summoned a chained gauntlet into his right hand which he sent rocketing forth, gripping into Ace's shoulder forcibly. Ace's eyes widened as he looked at the gauntlet, unable to make his body into the flames he was known for in that specific area. "Shit!" he cursed as he felt himself get pulled away from where he was standing. Gripping the chain, Hades swung it widely slamming Ace into the nearby wall, causing a cloud of dust to erupt around the Fairy Tail mage.

"Brat, you must have your head in the clouds if you think that you could simply walk in here and defeat me," said Hades. He got no reply however as small globes of light emerged from the dust, confusing him mildly as they encircled him.

"Hotarubi Hidaruma!" shouted Ace from within the dust as he unleashed his attack, causing the small balls of light to explode, fire erupting around where Hades stood. As the dust settled, it showed Ace relatively unharmed with the gauntlet still stuck within his shoulder.

"I see you are not just talk boy," said Hades as the flames around him vanished without a trace, the dark guild master unharmed from the attack.

"I'm just getting warmed up," said Ace as he gripped the chain protruding from the gauntlet, pulling Hades towards him. The founder of Grimoire Heart's eyes went wide as he was pulled towards Ace whose leg was ablaze. Without any way to protect himself, Hades took the brunt of Ace's attack which struck him in the side of the head. As Hades careened through the air, Ace quickly pulled his fist back before he punched forth, unleashing his attack. "HIKEN!"

A torrent of flames filled the room, rocketing towards the prone leader of Grimoire Heart who could do nothing as the attack struck him head on, the heat unbearable as he felt his skin burn all over. Only when Ace was sure that Hades was defeated if not dead, did he stop his attack, the wooden boards surrounding the walls and floor black in colour. In the centre of the carnage lay the body of Hades looking severely mangled. Gripping the gauntlet in his shoulder, with intent force Ace ripped it from his body, happy to no longer have the magical weapon piercing his body.

"You are better than I thought brat."

Ace's eyes went wide as he turned back to the centre of the room to find Hades once again unscathed and completely revitalised, as if he had never taken the attack to begin with. The only evidence that the attack had struck true was the fact that Hades clothes showed the signs of burnt fabric. Ace's fist clenched as he wondered how Hades escaped such a thing unharmed, a small bead of sweat sliding from his brow as he pondered just what was needed to take down such a man.

"Come at me youngster," beckoned Hades as he moulded his hands into the shape of pistols. An enraged snarl escaped Ace's lips as he charged forward, both fists alight intent on slamming Hades head into the ground. "Bang."

Searing pain pierced through Ace's shin as he felt something similar to a bullet pass through his body. His foot immediately gave way underneath him mere feet away from where Hades stood, the dark guild master looking down at him with his hands in the same position.

"Bang."

Pain once again shot through Ace's body, this time from the shoulder which he gripped in agony. While he couldn't feel any hole indicating he had been shot the pain felt all too real. Magical bullet after magical bullet was fired into Ace's body, the teenager only able to wince in pain as Hades laughed at the damage he was dealing. Several agonizing minutes passed as Ace was subject to some of the worse pain he had ever felt. Heavy breathing escaped his lips as he looked up at Hades who had a sadistic grin across his face. "Thank you for the entertainment brat, but your time is up," said Hades as he prepared the finishing blow.

"HADES!"

The shout of rage caused the master of Grimoire Heart to look over to the doorway, giving Ace enough time to roll away from immediate danger, leaping away as to get some distance between himself and the overwhelming opponent. "It would seem more of Makarov's brats have made it this far," said Hades as he looked at the five members of Fairy Tail that had stepped through the door. Turning his attention, Ace saw that the cavalry had arrived in the form of Natsu, Gray, Lucy, Wendy and Erza.

"Ace?" said Erza. "What are you doing here?"

"Ace-san, those wounds..." started Wendy, looking at the beaten up member of the guild.

"Don't worry about me, focus on Hades," said Ace as his gaze returned to the man he had been fighting. "Get ready, because this fight's only getting started."

"I will enjoy watching Makarov's brats suffer," said Hades smirking as he beckoned the latest arrivals to come at him, and come at him they did.

...

**Hope you enjoyed.**

**To those of you who thought Ace blew up the ship: Asuma blows up the ship in canon, nothing changes here.**

**Reven228: Ace won't be going back to the OP world, he's stuck here now. I understand that this changes what happens in the OP world dramatically but don't worry, I've got it all figured out.**

**Chibi-Onee-Chan: Zoro...hmmm...**

**Peace out.**


	13. Chapter 13

**Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece or Fairy Tail**

...

Slumped against a wall, Ace struggled to open his eyes as he looked at the destruction around him. Along the side of the arena, large holes had been created as chunks of the floor had been destroyed from one attack or another. In front of him lay the prone bodies of his nakama, all badly beaten and bruised. Over the course of the battle, no matter how many times they collaborated their attack, no matter how many times Hades should have been knocked down for the count the evil mage never once showed the signs of fatigue or injury. In countering their attack, Hades had been ruthless and every time they went at the elderly man they found themselves on the wrong end of pain. Natsu had been the last to fall and was now on the receiving end of the torture that Ace had received not half an hour earlier. Watching his ally take such damage caused his spirit to burn once again as he planted his hands on the ground. Amassing as much effort as he could muster, he pushed himself onto a knee as he struggled to make his left leg move. The reason for that was obvious.

Turning his attention to his limb, it was clear that it had been badly mangled in a collision and only through the adrenaline pumping through his veins was he not screaming out in pain. His foot was twisted at an obtuse angle but his body couldn't heal a wound such as that one, especially not with the amount of Hades magic that was still caught within his body. In order to fix it, he knew that he needed to slice his foot off effectively and allow his powers to create a new one. By no means would the fatigue vanish, but the ever present pain would vanish.

Looking upwards, he saw Erza's sword nearby, the blade having been knocked from the sword wielder's hand. With all the strength he could muster, he pushed off of his good foot in an attempt to grip the weapon, but fell agonizingly short, his fingertips mere inches away from the handle. Natsu's screams of pain grew louder and louder with each magical bullet fired into his body which caused an expression of anger to caress Ace's face. Slamming his hand down, his fingers cemented themselves within the wooden boards as he dragged himself forward ever so slowly, his muscles burning in pain as he got within the weapons reach.

"You're, the old man's rival," said Natsu weakly from his position as Ace gripped the sword in his hand, fierce determination in his eyes as he twisted onto his back, lifting his knee to his chest allowing him to look at the twisted limb.

"Disappear," said Hades, his voice cold and emotionless as Ace stabbed down through his foot, the limb vanishing in wave of flames as lightning struck the ship. Dropping the sword, Ace had to cover his ears from the roaring sound of the thunder which rang through his head like the bells of a cathedral. His foot all but gone from his thoughts, he twisted onto his stomach once again and looked forward at the back of a newcomer, a brown cloak wrapped around their body.

"So this is the old man's rival, Natsu," stated the blonde haired man as lightning danced off of his body. Ace didn't know who this was but the sense of relief that seemed to radiate from his comrades told him that this man was no enemy. In an instant the newcomer had unleashed a head-butt into Hades forehead, knocking the dark guild master back a couple of paces before both men stood upright.

From his spot at the back of the room, Ace couldn't hear the conversation that the two men were having as he pushed himself to his feet, leaning against the nearby wall for support. For now, all he knew was that if need be he would help out but for now he needed to regain his strength as quickly as he could. Despite knowing that the young Dragon Slayer in Wendy had the ability to heal his wounds to a certain degree, doing so would reduce her own magic reserves, something which he would not dare do.

Having travelled along the Grand Line, he had encountered people with Haki, a skill with the potential to injure anybody with elemental bodies like his own. The battle had been a brutal one, Ace having been cocky at the time not believing that he would take any damage to somebody fighting with only their fists. He was sorely mistaken. Yet this had taught him a valuable lesson. His crew's doctor had no way to heal injuries on somebody like Ace, anytime he tried to inject any sort of medicine to help stimulate the healing process was rejected from Ace's body. This was where Ace learnt that broken bones would have to mend on their own unless he destroyed that part of his body, allowing for his flames to create new limbs in complete working order. Since that day, Ace had been trying to figure out a way to allow his body to restore fatigue and energy at an accelerated rate but as of the moment he had no answer to such a problem.

Ace watched as Lightning danced around the blonde haired man in an entrancing display which was countered by Hades, dark light seeming to radiate from his aura. Small debris rose up from around the two fighters as if caught in a gravitational pull.

"Go Laxus!" shouted Natsu as Ace watched the new mage crouch down before springing forth, his body rocketing off to the side in a flash of lightning. It was difficult but somehow Ace was able to keep his eyes on the fight at hand as Laxus connected with Hades head before following up with a vicious left hook that sent the dark mage soaring towards where Ace stood. As Hades careened through the air, Ace watched with hawk like vision as lightning roared forward before Laxus punched Hades head into the ground. As he went to follow up however, Hades leapt out of range.

"Hm, to believe that Makarov had somebody other than Gildarts at such a level," said Hades as his feet touched the floor.

"The old man once told me that when facing a strong opponent: It don't matter how strong the guy is, what's more important is standing up to him," said Laxus, his voice unwavering. From this position, Ace had the first opportunity to look at Laxus' face, the lightning bolt across the right eye seeming more than just a little clichéd.

"Sounds like the excuse of a weakling to me," stated Hades, verbally backhanding what Laxus had stated. "You've had a chance to warm up, yes? Then come at me youngster!"

A twisted smirk spread across Laxus' face as he cracked his knuckles. He opened his mouth as if to speak but instead a torrent of lightning burst forth. With exceptional skill, Hades avoided the attack and in return sent the claw that had once stuck within Ace's shoulder at the lightning wielding mage. Leaning to the side, Laxus avoided the attack but from Ace was standing it was clear that the target had never been Laxus but rather the large metal globe behind, the size of which was nearly twenty metres in diameter.

"Get out of the way!" shouted Ace as Hades pulled on the chain, swinging the globe towards Laxus' unprotected back. Twisting on his feet, Laxus saw the large ball heading towards him and was able to leap out of the way as it carved up the wooden floorboards with ease. Releasing the chain, the globe flew into a nearby wall, barely missing Lucy as it bounced over her body.

His fist encased in lightning, Laxus charged forward but was pushed back by an unseeable force as Hades quickly attempted to cast a powerful spell, yet was foiled by the pirate who had been standing behind him. With what little strength he had had, Ace had taken a cheap shot and had punched Hades straight in the side of the kidney. The small attack had been enough to toss Hades off balance and prevent him from casting his spell.

"Insolent brat," said Hades as he turned his attention to the former pirate, only to be dealt a vicious blow to the side of the head courtesy of Laxus. With a sickening thud, Hades hit the nearby wall sending a cloud of dust into the air. Instead of following up however, Laxus and Ace locked eyes in silence before Laxus once again pressed the attack, a silent agreement having been said without words. A message of, 'Thanks for the assistance, but try it again and it'll be you who gets hurt.'

As Laxus charged into the dust, a ball of dark magic surrounded him, the magic having been unseeable in the cloud of dirt as Hades leapt free of the explosion. "Laxus!" shouted Natsu as the Fairy Tail wizards were blown back from the force of the attack. From where he stood, Ace stood little chance as he flew through the air. Unlike the Fairy Tail wizards however, there was no floor where he fell, damage he had caused earlier from his Hiken along with the battles gone past had created a gaping hole that everybody had been trying to avoid. As he fell, he heard Wendy's voice cry out for him, slowly drifting further and further away as he fell to the lowest floor.

There he lay, his body failing to respond to his commands as he desperately tried to get to his feet once again to try and help his allies in their battle. From down below, he could hear faint sounds of the fight raging above him but from where he lay on the ground, it was clear that there was little chance he was going to be going up the same way he had come down. His breathing was heavy, he hadn't felt this exhausted since the battle he had had with Jimbei. Second by second, he slowly began to feel energy return to his body, but not at a rate that was helpful at the moment. "My friends are counting on me," he grunted through clenched teeth before he stopped to realise what he had said.

He had accepted the people in the guild to be his allies, his nakama but never had he considered calling them more than that. A small chuckle escaped his lips as he guessed that only in the darkest of situations do the truest of feelings shine forth. That smile quickly vanished as an explosion rocked the entire ship and he was propelled towards the nearby wall. Yet he didn't crash into it, rather he manoeuvred in midair so that his feet were perpendicular to the structure and he landed gracefully before pushing himself off to land on the floor. As soon as his feet landed, he took off at a sprint, his body aching with every stride yet he pushed it into the back of his mind, knowing that he would willingly throw his body into the pits of hell for his nakama. Yet even though his spirit was strong, his body could not withstand the torturous events it had gone through and his legs gave out underneath him.

His body slammed into the ground and he fiercely punched the ground beneath him. "Damn it," he cursed, wishing that there was something he could do to help his allies. Another violent blast shook the ship and Ace heard the sound of three screams of fear as the air vent above him gave way, causing the three Exceeds to tumble from their crawling space and land on top of Ace.

"Ace, what are you doing here?" asked Panther Lily, the brown furred Exceed questioning why the former pirate was in the middle of this predicament.

"Last I checked, you weren't on the guest list either," said Ace, recalling that neither Lily nor Charle had been summoned to come to Tenroujima.

"That doesn't matter," said Charle regaining her composure.

"C'mon guys, we got to find that power source," said Happy desperately.

"Indeed," agreed Lily.

"Power source?" asked Ace.

"We have to hurry," said Happy ignoring Ace's question as he started off at a run. Charle quickly followed and Panther Lily began to move before he saw that Ace remained unmoving on the ground.

"Are you alright?" he asked.

"I can't move," said Ace as he desperately tried to push himself on to his feet. Taking the initiative, Panther Lily transformed into his Battle Mode, increasing in size and muscular structure dramatically, before he picked up Ace and held him in a piggyback. "Cheers," muttered Ace.

"We will go on ahead," said Lily as he quickly caught up to Charle and Happy, his strides covering much more distance with every step. Ace felt no humiliation as he was carted through the corridors like a sack of potatoes, his eyes wide and alert for anything that looked like it was what the Exceeds were searching for.

"Back up," shouted Ace quickly, causing Lily to skid to a stop. Tracing his steps back a few metres, the Exceed was able to look down a corridor he had missed, a large metal door at the end of it guarded by dozens of masked members of the dark guild. "That look suspicious enough?"

"I reckon you're right," said Lily as he removed Ace from his back, the pirate dropping to his feet a little ungracefully.

"Intruders, get them!" shouted the members of the dark guild as they charged forward.

"We need to get past them!" shouted Lily as he punched the first intruder squarely in the face, his sword flying into the air only to be gripped by Lily's hands. Swinging it out wide, Lily became amazed as it grew in size. "A sword that changes size, it's just like my Buster Marm."

"Defend the room, we have to defend the room with our lives!" shouted one of the men as they charged forward.

"We must get through Ace!" shouted Lily as he sliced forward, knocking several men off their feet only to reveal more standing behind. Yet he received no response and turned to look over his shoulder at the fire man whose head was hanging low, as if he had fallen unconscious on his feet. Some of the men seeing Ace in such a prone form took this opportunity of Lily's distraction to quickly rush past the Exceed, weapons at the ready to strike at the former pirate. "Ace!" shouted Lily as a warning.

"We got you now!" shouted one of the dark guild members as he prepared to slice Ace in half. Slowly, Ace's face rose upwards, his eyes showing determination and focus, before an unseen force radiated outwards.

Happy and Charle continued down the path that Lily had gone down, desperately trying to make up ground on their fellow Exceed. From out of a nearby corridor, a dark guild mage fell unconscious; his body limp with traces of foam at the mouth. "Hurry!" shouted Happy as he and Charle turned around the corner to find Ace standing there, a figure of destruction as bodies lay scattered throughout the entire corridor, even Lily had fallen unconscious.

"What happened here?" asked Charle shaking.

"It's like Erza said," recollected Happy as he looked at the former pirate. "One of Ace's spells; strong enough to cause an entire battalion to fall unconscious."

"You two, go and destroy whatever is behind that door," said Ace, not bothering to turn around to look at the two magical cats.

"Aye sir!" shouted Happy as he rushed forward, not needing to be told twice with Charle close behind. Unlike Happy though, Charle took a moment to look over her shoulder at Ace, his face blank and emotionless as he stood there being held upright by what little strength he had left.

Ace stood there, his breathing shallow as his body struggled to remain standing. His eyes opened and closed as he realised what he had done. He had willingly activated the King's Willpower. Despite that, Ace knew that he had little control over it and as he looked at Lily, realised that it even put his ally's at risk. "Seems like I still...have a long way to go," said Ace softly as his body collapsed, consciousness fading from his body before he even hit the ground.

...

**Hope you enjoyed.**

**Menooshuh: Logic says that Fairy Sphere would protect Ace considering it protected Laxus who at the time didn't have the brand of Fairy Tail marked upon him.**

**Rei-Fokkusu: Don't worry, I have my plan in how I'm going to get all of my characters over to Earthland, the scene is already in motion.**

**Please review. Peace out.**


	14. Chapter 14

**Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece or Fairy Tail**

**...**

Ace's eyes opened slowly, the fatigue slowly washing away from his muscles as a bright green light covered his chest. This presence was a peaceful one, one that he could find comfort in and as he followed the source of the magical power he found a familiar blue haired girl kneeling next to him. "Thank you Wendy," he said softly, his voice raspy and dry.

"Don't stress yourself Ace," said Wendy in a caring tone as she continued her work. "When Happy and Charle found you they said you had struggled to stand upright, you shouldn't work your body into the ground like that."

"Not going to happen," said Ace cheekily which caused Wendy to pout slightly but nothing more was said as she continued her work on the former pirate. Tilting his head, Ace looked around at the campsite. Despite the unspeakable odds, it seemed that everybody had somehow managed to walk out of the situation relatively unscathed...well alive at least. People bantered back and forth between one another, each member of the guild covered in a great number of bandages and scrapes looked relatively happy despite going through what could have been determined as a war. A smile crept across his lips; apparently the feeling of happiness was contagious in and around the campsite.

"Ace," gave the heavy voice of the master nearby which caused Ace to sit up despite Wendy's protest that he should be resting. "Erza told me that you took it upon yourself to fight Hades on your own." Ace sat there in silence, listening to the praise that Makarov seemed to be giving him. "You stupid insolent child, you should be thankful that you're still alive!"

There we go.

"With all due respect Master," said Ace trying to muffle his chuckle, "Running away from a fight never really suited my style. When the lives of those I care about are on the line, no matter what the stakes I will not back down, even at the expense of my own life."

Makarov looked down at Ace, which they were nearly level in height despite Ace sitting on the ground. To challenge somebody of Hades level alone, Makarov believed that the only one stupid enough to do such a thing was Natsu, yet it seemed the latest Fairy Tail recruit had a bit of a restless spirit as well; and like Natsu, Ace knew how to back up his words when push came to shove. A smirk crossed his lips; he couldn't wait to tell the rest of the guild masters at the next meeting that he had gotten yet another strong recruit.

"Ace," came the muscular voice of Lily, the tone of his voice not entirely matching the small form of his body.

"What do you want?" asked Ace.

"Back then, in that corridor when I was fighting those guild members, I turned around and saw you standing there," said Lily, his face stern and determined as he looked Ace in the eyes. "Then you hit me with your magic."

"Lily! Are you alright, are you burnt anywhere?" asked Wendy as she abruptly stopped healing Ace and went to check on the small Exceed.

"It wasn't a flame attack," clarified Lily, his eyes still focused on Ace. As soon as those words left his mouth, Makarov turned his attention to the brown Exceed, curious to know just what type of magic he had been subject to. He recalled Gray and Erza explaining that in Edolas Ace had been able to use a powerful magical spell when they couldn't summon an ounce of magical ability. "I saw your eyes, if only for an instant before I felt an overwhelming presence batter away at my spirit and almost as quickly as I felt it, I passed out."

"Sorry, I haven't really been able to practise that ability much," said Ace rubbing the back of his head. "The only times when I've been able to do it to my knowing was in Edolas and just before."

"If that is so," interrupted Makarov. "This ability may only occur when your body is in an extreme sense of danger, a magic caused by instinct alone."

"Is magic like that possible?" asked Wendy.

"No," said Ace which caused Makarov to raise his eyebrow slightly. "This ability was a rare one, but it was one that my father could also use."

"Your father?" repeated Wendy, having never heard Ace speak of his parents.

"Unlike me though, he could use it at will, whenever he pleased as often as he pleased," said Ace, his hand clenching with every word he spoke. "He was unstoppable."

"Strength of that magnitude is unheard of," said Makarov impressed by the sound of it. The ability to make those around you faint without uttering a single incantation, and to be able to do it so repeatedly, undoubtedly that man would have the strength of one of the ten wizard saints.

"On the ship, I had no strength left," said Ace as he twisted his palms towards his face, his eyes focused on his hands. "Despite that, I knew that I had to do everything I could to ensure the battle concluded with a victory for us. Yet without any power left, I felt helpless. That was when I felt it, the power surging deep inside me. Without thinking, I unleashed it. I'm sorry that you got caught in the radius Lily, but I can't control it...not yet."

No more needed to be said as Makarov analysed the situation. Here was a member of his guild, with a power that could be defined as one of the strongest hereditary abilities he had ever heard of. Yet without being able to control it, using it willingly or unwillingly could both be a blessing and a burden. He was about to speak but was interrupted by a thunderous roar which forced everybody to shield their ears.

"What was that?" asked Lisanna from nearby as Ace got to his feet, his power seemingly having restored during his time of unconsciousness.

"A dragon's roar," said Wendy slowly, having heard the sound a thousand times before.

"You mean it wasn't thunder?" replied Lily who was still shielding his ears.

"Everyone, are you okay!" shouted Lucy from nearby as her, Natsu, Happy, Cana and Gildarts appeared through a clearing in the forest.

"For now," said Ace as his attention turned skyward. On the grand line, he had been told stories of how there had existed a samurai who had been able to slay a dragon with his sword alone. Whether or not it was true, Ace didn't care, he just wished that there was somebody of that calibre with them at that moment.

"Heads up everyone, something's coming!" shouted Lily pointing towards the sky. There was only silence as all heads raised towards the sky only to see an ominous shadow descending towards them at an alarming rate. Claws the size of small islands and wings as wide as a galleon, it didn't take much to work out just how much danger the Fairy Tail wizards were in.

"The black dragon of the apocalypse, Acnologia," said Makarov, his eyes wide with fear.

With a collision that shook the ground itself, Acnologia slammed against the island on all four of its claws as it observed the pitiful morsels before it.

"That bastard is humanities enemy," said Gildarts.

"Then we're going to fight it!" proclaimed Natsu, pumping a fist.

"No, you're looking at it the wrong way," said Gildarts. "It's not about winning or losing with this one, it's how are we going to escape from it? No, more like which of us are going to survive?"

Ace looked at the monstrous creature before him, such an overwhelming feeling. It was like fighting a dozen Whitebeards, this feeling of helplessness. "You're saying that thing is going to kill some of us?" questioned Natsu and Ace was about to berate him for being so naive, but recalled that unlike himself, the odds of fighting with one's life on the line was not a common one in this world.

"Everyone, run!" commanded Gildarts, his voice radiating authority. Before anybody could move, the dragon roared from point blank range causing people to be tossed in all directions as even the ground was torn from its place. Trees and monuments never stood a chance as destruction was all that was left in its wake.

"How powerful is that thing," stated Levy, looking at the barren wasteland which only seconds ago had been a lush forest. All around Ace, people were stating their disbelief at such a thing.

"We gotta get off this island right away!" commanded Gildarts as Acnologia took flight once again. "Get to the boats!"

"Run, we're all going home together!" shouted Erza, pointing towards the distant shore.

"Home," repeated Ace, the word sounding so unfamiliar to him.

"Hurry Ace," shouted Wendy as she ran past the pirate as the black dragon descended towards them.

"Yea," he said softly, his eyes lifting towards the monstrous creature coming after them. "I should hurry." Spreading his arms out wide, a circle of flame began to dance around him, slowly spiralling upwards. "Hibashira!" he shouted, a column of fire piercing through the sky, blocking the dragon's flight path. A strong gust of wind, followed as Acnologia slowed to a standstill as if observing the one who dared to think that he could take it on.

"Ace!" shouted Wendy in shock.

"What are you doing!" shouted Makarov as he looked at the back of the former pirate who showed no fear standing up to such a frightening creature.

"Home," said Ace, his words only just carrying to those who had cared about him. "For the longest of time I had no such thing. Now that I have one, I'm going to protect it with everything I have." As his feet and fists became alight, Ace knew that walking away from this battle were slim, even if he was at peak condition. Undoubtedly, he knew that he would lose, he was not foolish enough to not know his own limitations, however, he would buy enough time for everybody to get away. As the dragon crashed back down to the ground, Ace wondered whether or not this was the most noble thing that he had ever done, either that or the most foolish.

With a thunderous action, Acnologia swatted at Ace much quicker than one would ever think something like that would be able to move, yet Ace had been prepared, leaping over the appendage, the fire at his feet pushing him higher and higher into the air until he was level with the beast's face. "Hiken!" he shouted, his fist causing a torrent of flames to fly towards Acnologia. As the flames grew ever closer, the black dragon flapped it's wings a single time, the wind force from such an action was like a hurricane and in an instant Ace's flames were extinguished.

"No way," said Ace in disbelief before he noticed a claw coming at him from his side. His eyes grew wide and before he could utter a curse the appendage struck fiercely and in mere moments he hit the side of a nearby cliff, blood escaping his lips and he felt as death would be a softer suffering than the pain he now experienced. Falling through the air, he could barely open his eyes as the ground grew ever closer. "Ten seconds, I couldn't even protect my nakama for more than ten seconds!" he growled just as he was about to hit the ground beneath him. Yet for some reason there was no pain.

Opening his eyes, he found himself hovering an inch above the ground, held in place by a magical force. As he gently landed, his eyes shifted upwards to see a small pair of feet before him, long locks of golden hair nearly touching the ground. Raising his head, he found himself looking at what appeared a young woman wearing a white gown adorned with red and blue decorations. Despite never having seen this woman before in his life, Ace could tell she showed no malice towards him. Soft blue eyes looked down on his prone form with a sense of compassion. The battle that raged in the background held little meaning as Ace's attention was solely focused on the person in front of him.

"You have shown yourself to be a true member of Fairy Tail, Ace," she said softly with a wave of her hand. Ace could feel a pressure pressing into the centre of his back, the shape of which he knew well, the girl having just branded him with Fairy Tail's insignia.

"How do you know my name?" he asked, his voice weak, barely carrying the distance towards where she stood. Before she could respond, Acnologia took into the sky with a malevolent roar, flying high above Tenroujima as it prepared to unleash one of its most devastating attacks.

"All will be revealed soon, Ace," she said before she turned towards where the rest of the guild stood before closing her eyes and lacing her fingers together as if in prayer. Ace could do nothing but watch as Acnologia charged its attack.

Upon the date of December 16th of the year X784, Tenroujima was erased from existence.

...


	15. Chapter 15

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail or One Piece**

**...**

"Jet...what the hell happened to you?"

Those were the first words to escape Ace's lips after seven years of suspended animation. At the time, he had no knowledge of why the person he recalled as Jet looked much older than he remembered. When the Fairy Tail mage embraced Ace in a hug that nearly shattered his bones, the former pirate had little to idea about how to react to such a thing. So he did what came naturally, and punched Jet square across the side of the jaw, sending the speed mage directly into a nearby tree.

"Jeez, what got into you?" questioned Ace as he got to his feet.

"You're alive!" screamed Jet in joy, ignoring the searing sensation that was radiating through his cheek. "That means everybody's alive!"

"What the hell are you talking about?" asked Ace.

"Quick, come with me!" commanded Jet. Having no clue what was going on, Ace followed Jet as the speed mage ran towards the centre of the island, Ace doing his best to keep up. As he ran through the forest, he looked at the surroundings. Trees were tossed in all directions and craters had formed where none had been earlier.

"Acnologia," he said softly, aware of what had occurred. Why he was alive after being hit by such an attack however made little to no sense to him. They quickly came to a clearing and once again Ace found himself being attacked in the form of a hug, this time by Droy. Ace was quick to recover and made one very quick judgement.

"How much did you eat in the last couple of days!" he exclaimed, noticing the dramatic weight gain that Droy had put on.

"For it hasn't been a couple of days, but rather seven years," said a soft voice nearby. Ace's eyes grew slowly wide, recognising the voice in an instant. His view glazed over those who had fought alongside him against Hades and all of those who had taken part in the S-class exam. Finally, his eyes settled on the girl he had seen earlier on, the one who had marked him with the seal of Fairy Tail.

"My name is Mavis," she introduced. "Fairy Tail's first master, Mavis Vermillion."

Needless to say that the reactions from such a statement were very much in the shocking department.

"At the time of the attack, I took the bond between you and the faith you have with one another and converted it all into magical power," explained Mavis as the guild observed her with a sense of wonder. "Your feelings activated Fairy Sphere, one of the three great Fairy Magics. It's Absolute Defence magic that protects the guild from all evil. However, everyone was sealed away in a frozen state and it took seven years for Fairy Sphere to dispel."

"Of all things, the first protected us," said Makarov in disbelief, tears glimmering in the corner of his eyes.

"No, I'm an astral body," explained Mavis as she slowly floated off of the ground, small glimmering balls of magic surrounding her as she did so. "It was all I could do to transform everybody's power into magic. Unwavering faith and a strong bond between you will even win a miracle over to your side. Fairy Tail's become a fine guild, hasn't it third master?"

Before Makarov could even muster an answer, Mavis vanished from sight. For the longest of time, everybody continued to watch the empty space, as if waiting for Mavis to return and instruct them on what to do now. "So, seven years has passed," said Gildarts, breaking the silence.

"So that's why you guys were so happy to see us," exclaimed Natsu now understanding why the guild members had reacted the way that they did.

"Seven years," repeated Ace as he looked towards the sky. His thoughts drifted towards the kids in Hargeon he had played with what only seemed like a day earlier, realising that all of them would be teenagers by now. Then his thoughts drifted towards his home world, wondering whether or not his brother had achieved his goal of being the Pirate King in such a space of time.

"So everyone's been waiting for us all this time," said Lucy.

"It makes you kind of sad doesn't it," responded Levy.

"Well, not everyone," stated Max, rubbing the back of his head nervously.

"What do you mean?" asked Freed.

"Of the members that we had when you guys vanished, only a little over a dozen of us remain," explained Max.

"A dozen!" shouted the guild members, wondering how their guild of hundreds had shrunk so much.

"What about income of new members?" asked Makarov.

"Even less than a dozen," said Droy solemnly.

"I guess a lot can change over time," said Gray.

"We couldn't even get enough jobs to pay rent for the guild hall, we had to move out of Magnolia," said Bisca.

"With what money we had, we rented some land up in the hills nearby and made our own place," continued Alzack. "A new guild has built itself up in Magnolia but we've managed to keep them from running us into the ground, although they have tried their best."

"When we were losing money the other guild took on our debt, but thanks to the new members we were able to pay it off and be completely debt free as of a month ago," stated Jet.

"I think we're going to need a look at the guild ourselves," said Cana. A protective arm of Gildarts draped over her shoulder, she didn't want to believe that the building she had practically grown up in had been foreclosed due to lack of funds.

"I guess it's time we faced reality," said Bickslow.

"Reality, reality," chanted the souls that were forever by his side.

"I wonder how the rest of the youngen's have grown," said Makarov.

"C'mon, the ship's this way," said Max as he began to lead the way. As one the guild members walked towards where the ship had been docked, each of them having different thoughts running through their head. Ace just looked around at his nakama, the people he had leapt in front of a dragon for and nearly died as a result. No matter what way he looked at it, he wouldn't change what he had done, even if it had ended up costing him his life.

"Oi Max, when we get back to the guild, challenge me to a fight," proclaimed Natsu. "I want to see how you guys have grown over the last seven years."

"Alright, said Max nervously. "Be warned though, we didn't spend seven years sitting around doing nothing."

"I'm all fired up," said Natsu pumping his fist.

"He just wants to show off his strength," said Happy with a shrug of the shoulders.

"Natsu-san's always been like that though," said Wendy.

"It's so great that the Thunder God Tribe's back together!" proclaimed Freed as he gripped on to Laxus' shoulder.

"Even when the world has passed seven years without us noticing we're still together," stated Evergreen.

"Oi, I'm not even a member of the guild," said Laxus trying to shake his former followers off of his back.

"Speaking of members, I don't remember putting the guild insignia on your back Ace," said Mirajane noticing the mark that was now emblazed in the centre of Ace's back.

"Oh that, Mavis gave it to me," said Ace taking it in stride.

"The first made you an official member of Fairy Tail!" exclaimed Makarov.

"Master, calm down," said Gildarts.

"Anyways, that's our ship over there," said Alzack pointing towards the vessel that was perched beyond the reef that surrounded the island. Ace took one look at the ship and his eyes quickly clenched into small slits as he peered at the boat, the design made him feel nostalgic.

"That's the guild's ship!" exclaimed Natsu. "It has a sunflower at the front!"

"The designer was actually trying to make it look like a lion's head," said Jet chuckling slightly.

"I'll get us there," said Gray as he began channelling magic into his palms. "Ice Make Floor!" Slamming his palms into the ocean, a giant trail of ice connected from the island to where the boat was docked. With a sense of calmness, the guild walked towards the large ship, admiring it as they got ever closer, chatting amongst themselves as they did so.

"It's huge!" admired Lisanna.

"I was worried that we weren't all going to fit but seems I was wrong," admitted Mirajane.

"This ship," said Ace as he placed his hand against the side, his fingers brushing against the wood.

"You know this boat?" asked Gajeel as the guild members began to climb up a nearby rope ladder.

"No," said Ace but couldn't help but feel like there was some connection, possibly not to the ship but rather the wood that the ship was made of.

"C'mon then, our friends await," said Erza as she leapt off the ice, making the vertical distance easily. Shaking his head softly from side to side, Ace pushed aside the feelings of nostalgia and climbed up the rope ladder. As he got up onto the deck, he found the rest of the guild admiring the design of the ship.

"There's an aquarium up here!" shouted Lucy who had quickly started exploring.

"And a library!" added Levy who suddenly fell in love with the ship.

"Who could have designed something like this?" pondered Ace as he looked at the ship. When he had been in Hargeon seven years earlier, none of the ships looked remotely like the one he was currently standing on. Even the deck had a grass topping rather than the standard wooden platforms.

"This certainly is a beautiful ship," admired Makarov.

"We'll need to have a party on here at some stage, won't we master," said Elfman.

"I think such a thing could be organised," said Makarov smiling at the thought of gathering all of the guild members together and having a grand time in the bay. At least that way he knew that Natsu or Gray couldn't leave sometime during the party and destroy some of the neighbouring buildings.

"Do you even know how to operate this thing?" asked Cana of Warren who was standing at the helm.

"Don't you know it," said Warren smirking as he pulled down on a lever that rested next to where the steering wheel was. The guild watched in amazement as the lion's mane at the front of the ship began to rotate, increasing in speed with every rotation, slowly pushing the ship away from Tenroujima.

"A propulsion system?" questioned Ace as Warren twisted the wheel sharply.

"Lower the sails!" commanded Warren as the boat finished turning around.

"MAN!" shouted Elfman as he quickly climbed up the mast, Natsu following close behind him. Within seconds the duo had released the ropes which held the mast in place, the sail crashing down into place. On the mast, a giant Fairy Tail insignia had been painted on which caused the guild members to smile.

"Alzack, Bisca, whenever you're ready," shouted Warren as he switched off the propulsion system.

"With pleasure," said Alzack as he and Bisca summoned requiped their weapons. "Gun's magic: Gust shot!" they shouted in tandem as a miniature tornado burst out of their guns, the wind catching in the sails and causing the boat to rocket forward. Many of the guild members had to grip onto the railing to prevent themselves from falling over.

"Natsu!" screamed Wendy as she saw that her fellow Dragon Slayer had quickly become ill.

"There's a sick bay through here," said Charle who had been doing some exploring of her own.

"I'll take him," said Laxus as he picked up Natsu and slung him over one shoulder.

"Laxus!" praised Freed as if Laxus was bathed in a golden light. Ace could see differently as the former member of Fairy Tail walked past him, a strained look on his face as if he was feeling a little under the weather like Natsu was. Ace shrugged it off, trying not to think of it too much as he looked towards the horizon, his hair blowing in the breeze as the mast caught the wind current which helped push them towards the mainland.

Walking up to the upper deck, Ace looked perplexed at the row of fruit bearing trees which had taken root within the grass which extended across the decking. Ace also observed the sign which stood in front of the trees. '_1000 Jewels per Tangerine,' _it said with a collection box sitting next to it. Ace wondered how the person who had put the sign there would have been able to keep track of who had taken a tangerine when he noticed a small hole in the collection box that pointed towards the grove. Taking a closer look, Ace saw that there was a lacrima hidden within that hole, probably of video recording property. "Sorry, don't have any money," he apologized, wondering whether or not the lacrima could pick up his words. As he plucked a tangerine from the nearest tree, he wondered what he was apologizing for; he was a pirate after all.

Everything about the ship was amazing as Ace went about inspecting every nook and cranny. Many of the girls had holed themselves up in the library and had swiftly kicked Ace out which made him curious as to what they had been talking about. Gray was resting in the Aquarium room with Juvia by his side, slowly inching ever closer to the ice mage. Ace opted to leave those two alone to see whether or not anything actually happened later on.

Up in the crow's nest he found Elfman and Bickslow having a competition of who could do as many bench presses, Elfman being cheered on by Mirajane and Lisanna while Freed and Evergreen supported Bickslow. "Win, win, win," chanted the souls that hovered around Bickslow as Ace had a look around the crow's nest, if it could even be called that. The area was more like a gymnasium, equipped with every piece of muscle building equipment that anybody could think of. There were even targets hanging along the side of the furthest wall, probably for those who wished to specialise in long distance fighting.

Ace found Bisca and Alzack in the kitchen, kicking up a cooking storm with whatever they could find in the refrigerator. Clearly they wanted to make the best meal they could for those that they hadn't seen for a number of years. With Makarov and Gildarts waiting patiently at the end of the table, they possibly had the toughest audience they could think of. "Would you like something to eat Ace?" asked Bisca who saw Ace looking in through the doorway.

"It's all good thanks," said Ace trying to excuse himself.

"Nonsense," said Makarov beckoning Ace to come sit with them. "Come, join us." With a shrug of the shoulders, Ace complied, figuring that he could look at the rest of the ship at some other stage.

"What's cooking?" asked Ace as he took a seat next to Makarov.

"We're just making some pancakes," explained Bisca as Alzack went about cutting up some fresh fruit. "Nothing fancy." Ace nodded as he looked around the kitchen, noticing that a lot of the appliances looked like they had been removed, guessing from the number of empty spaces that rested between equipment.

"Should there be some more stuff in here?" he asked.

"Most of it was put into the guild hall, we've got a fully working kitchen there now," explained Alzack.

"Seems like you guys have been keeping care of the guild in our absence," said Makarov with a smile.

"We did what we could, like Jet said, if these people hadn't joined our guild who knows what kind of situation we would have been in," said Bisca.

"I'm looking forward to meeting them," said Gildarts.

"Trust me, they're an interesting crew," said Alzack with a smile. Ace's ears perked slightly, noticing how Alzack had said the word 'crew' instead of a common term such as 'group.'

"Some of them have a destructive tendency which reminded us so much of Natsu, Gray and Erza," said Bisca which caused Makarov's jaw to drop slightly. "They kept us laughing and made us remember the good old times."

"How long have they been a part of the guild?" asked Gildarts.

"Not that long really, a year ago one of them came to our guild wanting to know if she would take on a mission that would require an excessive amount of manpower," said Bisca. "At first we told her that she should have looked towards another guild if she needed a good number of people to help her situation. She also said that she wouldn't be able to pay in jewels but rather slammed a sack full of gold down in front of us. Immediately we were sold and we spent four months searching everywhere we could for her crewmates."

"When they were all together they were a boisterous lot and we offered to take them in to the guild since they had nowhere else to go," added Alzack.

"You remember that kid shouting about how he was going to find a way back to his world so he could continue his dream, he would not shut up about it," said Bisca stifling a laugh.

"Yet the strange thing is," said Alzack as he looked up from his preparation, placing the knife gently on the cutting board, "That when he had heard that you had been a part of Fairy Tail Ace, it was as if his dream immediately rewrote itself. Since that day he has helped Fairy Tail to the best of his abilities."

"Oh, sounds like someone has a fan," said Gildarts cheekily.

"Trust me, if it's who I'm thinking of he's more than a fan," said Ace as his mind began processing a thousand thoughts in an instant. Yet he didn't ask any questions about who these people were, not wanting to raise his own hopes as of yet. The others took his silence as a sign that he didn't wish to speak about it and changed the topic to relieve some of the tension off of his shoulders.

...

The trip back to Magnolia wasn't a long one, Warren able to guide the ship into a port out the back. As the guild members got off the ship and onto the port, many marvelled at the design of it, Max explaining that one of the new guild members had spent a day constructing it just so that they could dock the ship there.

"Built in a day!" exclaimed Elfman. "That's a Man!" This in turn was met with Evergreen's fan smacking him atop his head, silencing before he continued to babble on.

"I must say, the man is a perfectionist," admired Freed running his fingers along the rail.

"Every weekend he comes down here to clean up the graffiti, vandals tend to target it a lot these days," admitted Max.

"First thing I'll do tomorrow is place some runes around the pier," proclaimed Freed, wanting to protect such a thing of beauty.

"Why does it get targeted so much?" asked Lucy.

"Because they see us as an easy target, the council have been harassing us lately and Master doesn't have the same standing in the council the third master has," explained Droy.

"Who is the master?" asked Makarov, wondering who out of Fairy Tail had been chosen to replace him.

"Macao."

Makarov nearly fainted from that news.

...

"That's an impressive building," stated Gajeel as he looked at the new building that housed the Fairy Tail guild. If anything, it looked more elaborate than the reconstructed Fairy Tail which occurred after the former Phantom Lord Guild Member had had his way with the old guild building. Many of the guild members couldn't wait to see what it looked like on the inside. There was just one thing that stood out among all else, and that was in the banner at the front.

"Super Fairy Tail?" read Wendy, tilting her head to the side as she looked at the title of the building slightly confused.

"That was one of the few conditions our builder had," said Max. "He would make the building stand out as best he could but only if he would be given free rein to do so. This is the result."

"Well it's impressive," said Makarov having recovered from learning that Macao had been his successor.

"It looks so tranquil out here," said Levy admiring the chicken coop and vegetable garden that were located just to the side of the guild hall.

"Just wait until you see the new members," said Jet with a slight smirk. "The majority are on a mission at the moment but a couple will probably be around here somewhere."

"I'm looking forward to it," said Gildarts.

"I want to fight them," proclaimed Natsu, pumping his fist.

"They'll want to fight you as well," said Droy knowing of the latest members personalities.

"Sounds like the right kind of people then," said Ace.

"Walking through these doors, even though we've never done it before it feels somewhat nostalgic," said Gray as the group proceeded towards the entry.

"I can't wait to see everyone again," said Lucy as she rushed forward and pushed the doors wide open. Many of the people in the guild looked at the mass standing just outside and stopped everything they were doing. The only person who hadn't noticed what was going on was a man dressed in a rugged black suit with his back to the front door.

"Oh, what are you all looking at?" asked the man as he turned around. Upon showing his true self, Lucy quickly fainted from the shock as the man standing in front of them had no skin or flesh upon any part of his body and was a true walking skeleton, complete with an afro and walking cane, a cup of tea in one hand with a saucer in the other. "So many people, do my eyes deceive me. But I don't have any eyes, yohohohoho!"

...

**Hope you enjoyed.**

**Menooshuh: Yea, at this rate I might have to chuck in a filler chapter or two so I don't start guessing what's going on in the future. Either that or slow down my updates to a standstill, but none of us want that now do we?**

**Rin: Ah, the good ol' sempai term. Don't think yourself beneath me though; we are merely two writers who follow different streams of writing.**

**Please review and Peace Out.**


	16. Chapter 16

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail or One Piece**

**...**

Of those members who had spent the last seven years suffering as the guild began to lose standing in Magnolia, they were filled with an overabundance of joy in seeing their friends return after such a long time. Not an eye was dry as if seven years of sadness was suddenly erased in a matter of seconds. Even the holes where eyes should have been on the walking skeleton were secreting water. "Such a touching story, I shall have to write a song to celebrate such a joyous occasion!" he shouted in joy. While such a thing was normal for those who had kept the guild running for such a long time, for those who had just met the walking skeleton, they were more than a little frightened. Wendy was hiding behind Freed's leg, praying that the rune mage was at the moment creating a barrier to protect them from the undead.

"Who are you?" asked Natsu which led to Lucy slapping him over the back of the head.

"Don't talk to the demon!" she shouted before backing away slightly as the skeleton drew ever closer.

"My name is Brook!" introduced the skeleton as he edged ever closer to where Lucy stood, Natsu and Gray preparing to protect the celestial wizard if the need arose.

"What... what do you want?" she asked nervously contemplating her options of escape if Brook wanted to take her soul from the mortal realm.

"Can I see your panties?"

"Like hell!" screamed Lucy as she kicked Brook across the side of the head, sending the skeleton into a table and destroying it.

"Such a ferocious kick, it sends shivers to my bones, ah but I am all bones," stated Brook as he pushed himself back to his feet.

"What a strange man," noted Erza.

"Is this one of the new members you were speaking about?" Makarov asked of Jet.

"Yea, he's one of the new guys," admitted Jet rubbing the back of his head.

"I'm not sure why, but for some reason I like him," admitted Makarov, immediately regretting the decision as a venomous stare was sent directly into the back of his head.

"Master," stated Mirajane, that was all that needed to be said in order for Makarov to admit defeat.

"Do we have a necromancer around here or something?" asked Gildarts, trying to come up with a plausible explanation.

"Do you really think we'd let somebody who could summon the undead into our guild?" asked Macao.

"If it's any consolidation, I've been dead for over fifty years," explained Brook.

"You know, you're not really doing yourselves any favours," said Ace as he broke away from where the rest of the guild had remained frozen since spotting the walking dead. "So where's the rest of your crew?"

"A number of them are on a mission at the moment but Franky-san and Nico Robin-san are around here somewhere," explained Brook.

"Wait, did you just say Nico Robin?" asked Ace.

"Robin-san, yes she's our nakama," stated Brook smiling, his white teeth practically glowing as he and Ace went to the bar as the rest of the guild began socialising with one another. Looking over his shoulder, he saw how the guild members socialised with one another, catching up on old times. Then his thoughts drifted to the person Brook had mentioned, one Nico Robin. Such a name was widely known along the Grand Line, you didn't get the title of Demon Child for just any reason. "Might I get your name?"

Brook's question was able to snap Ace back to reality, shaking his head from side to side. "Name's Portgas D. Ace," announced Ace, offering his hand which was quickly gripped by Brook.

"Ah, so you're Ace-san, captain-san will be so happy to know that you're here," announced Brook.

"Might I inquire into who your captain is?" asked Ace as if dealing with an informant.

"Ah, but that would spoil the surprise, yohohoho," said Brook, clearly intending on keeping such a secret. "Kinana-chan, could I please get a glass of milk."

"Right away Brook," said Kinana, a smile plastered across her face. Ace figured that after being around the skeleton enough times you'd grow used to the fact that he clearly didn't belong to the realm of the living; if he ever went out on missions though and had to talk to the client, which was something Ace wanted to see. "Here you go, would you like something Ace?"

"I'm good thanks, I'd rather keep on the right side of intoxicated because I think today is going to be getting very violent," explained Ace.

"What do you mean Ace-san?" asked Brook as he quickly downed the glass of milk which made Ace ponder how the skeleton was actually able to swallow the liquid. Before he could give an answer though, Natsu charged forward with his fist ablaze.

"Oi Brook, fight me!" he challenged. "Romeo just told me that all of the new people were exceptionally strong, I want to see just how strong."

"Ah Romeo-kun was probably over exaggerating," said Brook nonchalantly as he placed the empty glass down on the table. "Putting me in the same league as my captain, I couldn't even dream of such a thing."

"C'mon, it'll be a good show at least," said Ace urging Brook on.

"I guess if the crowd wishes to see me fight then I have no choice, yohohoho," said Brook.

"No battling in here, Franky will have my head if you blow up the place," said Macao knowing how long the builder had spent constructing Fairy Tail and making it what it was today.

"Understood Master-san," said Brook. "Kinana-san, could I please have my violin?"

"Certainly," said Kinana as she pulled the instrument out from behind the counter, handing it to Brook.

"A violin?" questioned Natsu. "I told you to fight me, not perform for me."

"I am aware of that, if you could please step outside," said Brook as he pointed towards the door.

"With pleasure," said Natsu cracking his knuckles.

"Oi, Natsu-ni's going to fight!" announced Romeo.

"We get to see Natsu in action?" asked Nab.

"Just like old times," said Wakaba as he puffed away at the cigar in his mouth.

"Who do you reckon will win?" asked Kinana of Ace as the majority of the guild stepped outside, eager to relive the good old days.

"Trust me, after having my ass handed to me in two battles straight, I don't think I'm in any place to say who is definitely going to win," said Ace with a smile. Having lost the battles between both Hades and Acnologia, Ace knew that he had a long way to go. Getting up from his stool, he made his way over to the door and joined the ring of people surrounding Natsu and Brook.

"I wonder what magic Brook uses?" pondered Makarov.

"Shall we begin?" asked Brook as he placed his violin in position as he unsheathed the sword which had been concealed within his cane.

"I'm all fired up!" shouted Natsu as he charged forward, his fists ablaze as he punched at Brook only for the skeleton to leap over the top of him, much higher than what anybody thought was possible for a guy without muscles.

"Music is power!" shouted Brook as he landed on the grass, placing his sword along the strings of the violin. "Nemurita Flan!" he shouted as a melodic tune was played.

"Music?" questioned Natsu as he waited for Brook to attack him with magic. It only took a matter of seconds before the dragon slayer passed out, lightly snoring as sleep immediately over took him.

"Such powerful sleep magic," said Erza, amazed that Natsu had been beaten in such a short space of time. Yet after having dealt with Mystogan for so long, she knew combating such a technique was not an easy thing to do no matter how often the victim was exposed to it.

"That was very impressive Brook," said Makarov, now knowing who to turn to if he needed somebody to calm Natsu down within the space of a few seconds.

"Why thank you," said Brook with a slight bow before a slight burst of gas expelled from behind the cover of his pants. "Oh, excuse me."

"So repulsive," stated Evergreen as she waved her fan in front of her face to protect herself from the toxic gas.

"I told ya's Brook was strong!" said Romeo pumping his fist.

"Juvia, could you wake Natsu up?" asked Gray whose clothes had gone missing some stage during the brief scuffle.

"Anything for you Gray-sama!" shouted Juvia before she sent a jet of water at Natsu, the quick soaking causing the dragon slayer's eyes to burst open.

"Ah, what happened?" asked Natsu as he looked around at everybody staring at him.

"You lost pepper breath," insulted Gray, causing Natsu to charge against him, the two butting heads as lightning danced between their eyes.

"What was that underpants Shogun?"

"I guess after seven years you've become hard of hearing lizard tongue."

"Well Mr Frosty...wait, did you say I lost?"

"Bout time you realised it," said Gray as Natsu took a couple of steps back.

"I demand a rematch!" shouted Natsu as he shook his fist angrily at Brook.

"That's enough Natsu, you lost fair and square," said Makarov as he calmed the dragon slayer down. "There will be many more chances for you to test your strength."

"My, my, my, seems to be a bit rowdy as of the moment," said a smooth silky voice coming from towards the hill. Everybody's head turned as one to look at the newcomer sauntering towards them, a bag of groceries in each hand. She was dressed in a plain white shirt and navy blue jeans.

"Ah, you're back Robin-san," shouted Brook.

"Did something occur while I was away musician-san?" asked Robin, looking at all of the people who had gathered outside of the guild.

"It would be best if you came inside Miss Robin, we have much to discuss," said Makarov.

"That sounds appropriate," said Robin as she walked forward.

"I'm going to go get some more groceries, it doesn't look like there is enough there to feed all of us," offered Mirajane.

"I'll come to Mira," said Lucy as she leapt at the chance to get away from Brook. As did most people, nearly quarter of the returning guild members saw this as an opportunity to get away from Brook and wrap their heads around the fact that they had an undead musician as part of their guild as of that moment.

"That Robin's quite a beauty," said Gildarts which caused Cana to slap him over the back of the head, mumbling something about how dirty minded her father was.

"Could you take these from me?" Robin asked of Gray.

"Sure thing," said the ice mage which in turn caused Juvia to start accusing Robin of loving Gray at first sight.

"I assure you of no such thing," said Robin, her voice not giving away anything.

"Juvia wants a guarantee, challenge me in battle for Gray's hand in marriage!" proclaimed Juvia.

"What!" shouted Gray as Robin stifled a laugh.

"A small challenge would be acceptable, for Gray's hand however I'll think I'll pass on this moment of time," said Robin having been told that the members of Fairy Tail could be impulsive at times.

"It's just one after the other," said Macao running a hand through what little hair he had left.

"We're Fairy Tail, what did you expect fourth master," said Makarov.

"Hey, I was just filling in for you third Master, you can have the position back now," offered Macao.

"I'll think I'll enjoy just being a regular guild member for a while," said Makarov which caused Macao's mouth to drop ever so slightly in shock. Meanwhile Juvia and Robin had placed themselves in the centre of the ring, intent on battling it out. Meanwhile, Ace was standing at the far end of the ring, staring at Robin's back. He pondered how the 'Demon Child' was going to fight against somebody with an elemental body much like his own.

"Shall we begin," offered Robin to which Juvia nodded. The water mage knew that in this instant she had the advantage as Robin crossed her arms over her chest. Everyone stared in amazement as arms began sprouting off of Juvia gripping her arms and pinning them behind her back as another two arms pulled at her neck. Erza's eyes widened slightly at the magic Robin used, clearly the new members of the guild were more skilled than they appeared.

"Submission," said Gajeel laughing softly, he had a feeling that he liked this girl already. Robin tightened her grip on Juvia, just enough to add extra pain in order to make the blue haired mage submit, but she never expected Juvia's body to shatter into droplets of water.

"Juvia cannot be defeated in such a way," stated Juvia as Robin's eyes focused ever so slightly.

"I see, an elemental body," analysed Robin as she reached into her pocket.

"Water Cane!" shouted Juvia as she sent a whip of water directly at where Robin stood, only for the black haired woman to leap into back from the attack. In that instant, Robin had had the opportunity to pull the item out of her pocket and toss it at Juvia. The water mage leapt away from the item, expecting it to explode or emit a sudden burst of light, but nothing happened. It simply sat there on the ground.

"Juvia's confused," said the blue haired girl as she got closer to the item, her eyes never leaving Robin. A triumphant smirk crossed Juvia's face as Robin crossed her arms once again. "Juvia cannot be hit by such an attack."

Yet Juvia didn't see that the arms hadn't started sprouting out of her body once again, but from the ground underneath the shell, lifting it up higher and higher before it touched Juvia's stomach as a smile crept across Robin's face. "Impact."

In an instant, Juvia was blown backwards, blood bursting from her lips as she screamed in pain. The water mage crashed to the ground, pain flowing throughout her entire body. "What an item!" exclaimed Erza, wondering what force of power was contained within that shell. The ability to injure an elemental body with such minimal effort was almost unheard of.

"I'm going to have to thank Long Nose-kun for making me carry one of these on me at all times," said Robin as she shook her hand slightly, the rebound from the attack still sending pins and needles through her arm. Being a former assassin, she was aware of how each item could be used as a tool to help her complete the task. In a world where magic was abundant, she knew that there would be times when her Hana Hana powers wouldn't be enough so had sought ways to help her in any given situation. This was merely a temporary solution.

Juvia struggled to sit up, having rarely felt such pain radiate through her body as Robin walked forward, picking up the Impact Dial as she went past. "How...how did you hurt Juvia like that?" questioned the blue haired girl.

"Impact Dials do not create external damage, but rather internal damage," said Robin as she knelt next to Juvia, placing the weapon directly in front of Juvia's face making the blue haired woman's eyes widen. "Would you like to try it again water-san?"

"I think that is enough Robin-san," said Brook from the sidelines.

"You've proven your point Robin," said Macao.

"Thank you master-san," said Robin as she got to her feet, offering Juvia a hand.

"See why can't I get that kind of respect from you," shouted Macao as he butted heads with Wakaba.

"You'll get my respect when you deserve it," said Wakaba with a sly smirk which only caused Macao to anger.

"It's like we never left," said Natsu smiling, his battle with Brook all but erased from his mind.

"That performance was SUPER!" shouted an extravagant voice from above them, causing all eyes to head towards the tallest part of Fairy Tail to see a man with ducktail hair looking down on them, a pair of goggles protecting his eyes. Before anybody could comment, the man leapt from out of the window, landing in the centre of the crowd causing dust to fly everywhere. As the view cleared, everybody was able to get a good look at what the new person was wearing or lack of in this case.

"He's just like Gray!" shouted Natsu pointing to the fact that the man was only wearing a Hawaiian shirt and a pair of Speedos. Leaning to the side, he slammed his forearms together with a metallic clang.

"SUPER!"

...

A smile graced Wendy's lips as she carried her bag of groceries to where the meeting place was Charle floating by her side. "You didn't have to spend so much money Wendy," said the Exceed.

"I know but it's a special occasion," said Wendy.

"Anyway, I don't want you talking to that skeleton man," warned Charle.

"Eh, why not?" asked the blue haired girl. Sure she was a little frightened of the afro skeleton but that didn't mean that she should avoid him without getting to know him.

"Because he'll put a curse on you or something!" shouted Charle, worried about the dragon slayer's health.

"A curse!" exclaimed Wendy nearly dropping the groceries she was carrying. "That was close."

"Not close enough in my opinion," stated a malicious voice from behind her. Turning around, Wendy and Charle found themselves looking at five men all bearing the symbol of a guild they didn't particularly know of.

"Hello," said Wendy in a petite voice.

"Guess you must be a new little fairy," said the leader, a massive club slung across his shoulder. "If you didn't know though, this is Twilight Ogre's territory now, and we don't like it when fairies come straying into our neck of the woods."

"I'm sorry," said Wendy slowly backing away.

"Sorry isn't good enough," said the man as he kicked forward, knocking the groceries out of Wendy's hands and spilling the contents all across the cobblestones.

"You meanie!" shouted Charle.

"Oh, maybe he message wasn't clear enough," said the man as he pulled the club off of his back. Wendy tried to back away but tripped over her own feet and landed lightly on her backside. "I miss the feeling of crushing fairies."

As the man began his downward swing, Wendy looked away in fear and braced herself for the brute force behind the club to come crashing down on her. An explosion sounded and her eyes snapped open to see a small cloud of smoke had enveloped the man's face. Faster than she could see, two more explosions rang out as two more of the men were struck by this mysterious force.

"Shit, we're these attacks coming from!" shouted one of the henchmen, looking around only to not find a trace of them.

"I see them," shouted one pointing towards the far end of town where at the end of the street a single man stood, a large weapon held in his hand.

"Idiot, how could he hit us from there?" asked the central leader having recovered.

"It must be him," said one of them, shivering slightly.

"You don't mean..." he was cut off as an explosive bullet exploded across his face.

"It's the King of the Snipers, run for it," said one of them quickly turning tail and running, his companions quickly following.

"This ain't over," said the leader as he ran towards the Twilight Ogre guild hall. Wendy blinked a couple of times before she turned towards where the attacks had been coming from but was unable to see anything from her position on the ground. Getting to her feet, she was still unable to see anything, the crowd seemingly having grown over the past few seconds.

"The king of snipers," she said softly, knowing she owed this mysterious person her gratitude.

...

"Yeow! So you're from the grand line as well," said Franky as he sat at the bar, drinking cola straight from the bottle. After having introduced himself to the guild members, they had all taken the opportunity to head indoors and catch up with one another.

"It's the only reason why I'm not freaking about old bones over there," said Ace tossing a thumb over his shoulder to where Brook was playing a grand piano, a number of the guild members having a light dance with one another. One of those who looked most out of place was Elfman who had been blackmailed into such a thing by Evergreen and had a crimson blush spread across his cheeks. It only took a second of miscalculation as Elfman accidentally trod on his partner's foot, resulting in much laughter as he got hit over the head a number of times with the fan. Yet he wasn't the only one in such a predicament, Gajeel had been dragged on to the dance floor by Levy which caused Jet and Droy to look on in shock and horror. Like Elfman, the iron dragon Slayer stepped on Levy's feet on a number of occasions but the S-class applicant paid it no mind, just enjoying the situation of Gajeel looking flustered from time to time.

"Well one such as yourself can be expected to Ace-san," said Robin who was standing nearby. "After all, back home you're a well known name."

"You make it seem like I'm the only one who was famous Robin," said Ace which caused the archaeologist to smirk slightly.

"Now now, that's all in the past," said Robin.

"That's right, now our goal is to help make Fairy Tail SUPER!" said Franky as he went about combing his ducktail, not wanting to look worse for wear now that the former members of the guild had returned.

"Well I can't help but be curious to as how you managed to get teleported to this world," said Ace. "I got sucked into a giant void and turned into crystal by a man king whilst fighting Whitebeard, surely you guys had something extravagant happen to you guys."

"Well that's a tale if there ever was one," said Franky as he put the empty bottle down on the counter. Before he could continue with the story however the door to the guild was kicked open, effectively silencing everybody as they spotted six silhouettes standing in the doorway, one much smaller than the rest with antlers protruding through his hat.

"We're back!" shouted the captain, taking the straw hat off of his head and allowing it to dangle on his back, held in place by a string wrapped around his throat.

"We could've gotten back sooner if you hadn't gotten lost!" shouted an orange haired woman smacking a green haired man across the side of the head.

"How was I meant to know which way is East," said the swordsman nonchalantly.

"If you paid attention to Nami-swan's directions then we could've gotten back an hour ago Marimo," shouted another one as he tossed his cigarette into a nearby canister filled with his extinguished buds.

"You want to go shitty cook!"

"Bring it on you crappy swordsman!"

"They're just like Natsu and Gray!" stated Happy.

"Wow, look at everybody here," said the central person observing how many people were in the guild hall.

"Where did you all come from, if you're enemies know that I have 8000 men at my disposal!" shouted one of them, shaking ever so slightly.

"8000 men!" shouted the smallest, freaking out at his companion's statement.

"Trust me, we're all members of Fairy Tail," said Ace, tilting his head over his eyes ever so slightly. The hat and the voice, it was all there but even so he wanted to play it up as long as he could.

"Welcome back, how'd the mission go?" asked Macao.

"Most of the money went into repairing the town church because these three couldn't help themselves!" shouted Nami, trying to make the central three feel bad.

"I like them already," proclaimed Natsu.

"Everyone, allow me to introduce the guild's most recent recruits," said Macao as all of the people who were on Tenroujima gathered round. "This is Nami."

"Nice to meet you all," said Nami with a bow.

"Here's Usopp."

"Yosh, it's good to meet you," said Usopp with a wink in his eye. "People sometimes call me Usopp the magnificent."

"They do," exclaimed the smallest member of the crew.

"So cute!" squealed a number of the girls in the guild as they looked at the small reindeer.

"This here's Chopper."

"Calling me cute doesn't make me happy you jerks," said Chopper as he danced from side to side.

"This is Sanji."

"I look forward to greeting all of you lovely Mademoiselles personally," said Sanji, his left eye hidden behind his fringe.

"This is Roronoa Zoro."

"Looks like I might have some new drinking partners," he said with a devilish smirk.

"And this..."

"That is Monkey D Luffy," stated Ace as he walked forward, his face still hidden from view. "His hat belonged to a man called Red Haired Shanks, one of the four most feared pirates along the grand line. As a child he found himself capable of stretching any of his limbs, his body is completely made of rubber."

"How do you know so much about me?" questioned Luffy dropping into a fighting stance as Ace stood right in front of him.

"I beat you over a hundred and twenty five thousand times Luffy, what makes you think this times going to be any different," said Ace as he lifted his head, a broad smile spreading across Luffy's face as realisation hit him.

"ACE!" he shouted as he enveloped his brother in a hug.

"It's good to see you Luffy," said Ace as he patted his brother's back.

"So this is your brother Luffy," said Zoro looking at the former captain of the Spade Pirates.

"You beat Luffy over a hundred thousand times, it's got to be a lie," stated Usopp.

"Actually, that's sounds about right," said Luffy chuckling which caused his crew to gasp ever so slightly. "But I could definitely beat you now."

"Just who could you beat?" questioned Ace. Macao slapped his forehead; he could already see where this conversation was heading.

"We can have the clash later, for now it is a time to celebrate!" shouted Makarov as he spotted the rest of the guild coming up the hill with groceries in hand. This would be one party the guild would not be forgetting soon.

...

**Hope you enjoyed.**

**LoSTWRITER2: I've got a reason as to why and how the Straw Hats landed in Earthland and will explain soon.**

**One manga: What condition are the straw hats in? Wait and find out.**

**FlyingTurtleDuck: If I made you laugh out loud then my job is complete.**

**Ignisha: I feel honoured...I think?**

**Alright, a couple of sidenotes. I don't like adding characters in if I don't believe that they'll help the story in any ways shape or form. The Straw Hats have been brought in for a reason. Secondly, if you are wondering about what level of skill they are at, there are a couple of subtle clues as to just what level they are at. Finally, this will likely be my last update for a while. As of tomorrow I am starting my second job, I still have to finish my apprenticeship, am in the middle of my final semester of university and have to keep contributing for Team Dragon Star. As such don't expect too many updates but I'll do what I can every now and again.**

**Anyways, Ja Ne.**


	17. Chapter 17

For the first time in seven years, the amount of laughter and joy that could be heard bouncing off the walls of Fairy Tail stirred up the neighbours. The neighbours in this case however consisted of various wildlife that had made the nearby forest their home instead of the fishmongers and tradespeople that had inhabited the adjacent stalls within the walls of Magnolia. All of the alcohol had been taken out of the cellar for the festivities, much to Cana and Zoro's delight; the two slamming their mugs together much like how two friends would bump knuckles before they would down the contents within mere seconds.

On the centre table, food as grand as one could imagine was laid out for all to see, Sanji having been able to make something extraordinary out of what little resources the guild had. Lisanna smiled in delight as she felt as if an explosion of flavours had gone off in her mouth before she urged Lucy who was standing nearby to dig in. Lucy paled slightly, saying that she was looking after her waistline but as soon as she sampled her first taste she was hooked and joined the mob surrounding the table, trying to get as much of a feed of the delicacies available as humanly possible. In the background Brook played happily on a piano as a number of people danced to the tunes he was producing, a great deal of laughter erupting at the small steps of Asuka, the daughter of the recently wed Bisca and Alzack stumbled over her own feet. Thankfully, Wendy was there to grasp her by the hands and lead her in a very simple dance. Nearby Ussop carved up the dance floor, claiming that he had won the East Blue Dancing Contest at only the age of nine while taking a break from his pirating adventures, yet from his moves it was clear that lies surrounded his entire story.

Over the other side of the bar, two men were in a heated battle, beads of sweat forming on their brows as the palms gripped one another intently. Franky was having an incredibly difficult time in the ferocious battle of strength against Elfman, the shipwright thinking he had the full advantage due to his mechanical limbs. That was not the case however, Elfman having utilised his Beast Arm: Iron Bull to put up more than an impressive contest of strength. From high above on the second story, Robin watched over the festivities, a chilled glass of wine resting within her hand. The archaeologist had found the taste of such delicacies a treat and considered the occasion worthy of having a glass or two rather than the standard alcohol which currently caused half the guild into a drunken stupor.

The three Exceed had found a very strange companion in the small reindeer creature that was Chopper. "What do you do?" asked Happy.

"I'm a doctor," explained Chopper.

"A healer then," stated Lily.

"I can fight when I'm needed," proclaimed Chopper boldly.

"And how would you do that?" asked Charle. All three of the Exceed were rendered speechless as Chopper's size expanded greatly becoming the height of a full grown man.

"Monster!" shouted Happy, flying off to find Natsu. The reaction this got was highly amusing as stars fluttered around Chopper's eyes.

"You guys can fly!" The blue Exceed was oblivious to this comment as it flew past Nami and Levi who were in the middle of a discussion, the two young women finding steady ground to talk about. From nearby, Gajeel watched on protectively, as if expecting something to get out of hand shortly. His eyes shifted to where he knew the trouble would likely come from and strangely it wasn't his fellow Dragon Slayer but Erza, who was sitting amongst the party with a piece of strawberry cake in one hand. He swallowed nervously, knowing that if anything were to knock that cake from her hand that all hell would break loose.

"Dammit!" shouted Natsu, his feet landing on a table as he looked side to side.

"What are you after?" asked Gray, unaware of the affectionate gaze that Juvia held upon his back.

"I can't find either Ace or Luffy and I want to fight them," proclaimed Natsu boldly. "If Luffy is Ace's brother than he has to be strong!"

Yet no matter where he looked within the walls of the guild he could not find either of the brothers. The reason for this was because high above where he searched, sitting atop the roof of the guild were both Ace and Luffy, basking in the glow of the sun as they gazed over the nearby forest with a sense of tranquillity...well kind of.

"You took out an entire organization run by one of the seven warlords, like a little squirt like you could do something like that," smirked Ace.

"It's true, I beat the crap out of that sand bastard," shouted Luffy in a brazen voice.

"Then you're telling me that afterwards you travelled to a Sky Island and defeated a man who was made of lightning, beat some government organization, declared war against the world, defeated another warlord before getting your ass handed to you," summarised Ace.

"Well we just fought against a huge zombie creature and fought against that shadow controlling guy when Blackbeard rocked up," explained Luffy. "He wasn't the only one though, there was that Kuma guy and the two fought against each other. Apparently Kuma was a member of the Dad's army and was protecting me as Blackbeard tried to get me in order to become a warlord."

"You found out who your dad was?" asked Ace.

"Gramps told me that it was this Dragon fellow, a revolutionary or something," said Luffy casually making Ace blink a couple of times before reigning in the information and accepting it within reason. If he was the son of a legend it only made sense that Luffy was to. "Anyways, while Kuma and Blackbeard were fighting we got to the ship but Blackbeard had given Kuma the slip or something and began to suck us into this black vortex thingy. We were trapped within this black nothingness, I felt so powerless, I couldn't even move my legs as our ship sunk further and further into an empty space. Then that Kuma guy returned and swung with his hand and hit the Sunny. From what Robin told me, anybody who gets hit by his hand goes flying for three days and three nights but because we were getting sucked into this black thing, something weird happened."

"Like flying for three days straight isn't weird?"

"Well we were sent flying but it was into nothingness," said Luffy solemnly, his usual cheery attire seemingly vanished. "All around there was black, I couldn't even see my own hand. I shouted out to try and find Zoro and everyone else but I couldn't even here my own voice. There was no way to tell how long we were flying. Robin told me that because of the two things occurring at once there was a backlash thingy, I still don't understand it. All I know is that when I landed I was in the middle of some cult dark guild thing which had been trying to summon what they called the 'Army of Straw.' Robin thinks that somehow they're summoning helped us escape from the void but we all got separated in the process."

"Then the members of Fairy Tail found you guys one by one and you joined the guild."

"When I heard that you were a part of the guild I couldn't help myself," said Luffy chuckling slightly, his cheery attitude seeming to have returned now that the darker part of his story had subsided. "When I heard that you had died, a part of me shattered but my nakama helped me through it and we decided that by helping the guild you were part of was the best thing to do since they had helped us."

"Well you've found a good home," said Ace, ruffling Luffy's hair slightly as the infamous straw hat hung from a string around the rubber boy's neck. "What's say we go join the party then find ourselves a mission to go on, jus you and me for old times' sake."

"Awesome!" yelled Luffy as he leapt off of the roof, his rubber body ensuring that he took no damage as he collided with the ground. Only seconds later was Ace by his side, having leapt down shortly afterwards. Yet as they stared through the door at the guild before them, they saw only carnage as bodies flew in all directions as everybody fought one another in a vicious brawl. From the safety of the second story, a number of females including Robin, Nami and Lucy had sought protection or just stood up there to enjoy the view of the carnage. Luffy, seeing that everybody was having a good time, leapt at the chance to join in the action and quickly stormed into the guild, his fist flying at the ready. Ace merely rubbed his eyes with his forefinger and thumb before lifting his eyes slightly, his gaze falling upon a half eaten piece of strawberry cake that had fallen to the ground before Franky stepped on it while executing his signature pose. No mechanical body could protect him from the fury that Erza rained down upon him.

...

Ace sat within the confines of a tree, his leg dangling from the branch he was sitting atop comfortably as his back rested against the bulk of the tree. He had opted not to join in with the carnage and rather took this opportunity to absorb everything that had happened. His childhood friend and effectively his brother had been brought to this world as well and while he was trapped within a state of suspended animation, his little brother had grown up to become roughly the same age. He assumed that because they were effectively in different dimensions that the two worlds time didn't match which was how Luffy was the same age rather than being several years older. Ace ran his fingers through his hair, pondering what Sabo would think of all of this.

"You alright?" asked the calm voice of Robin as she stepped near to where Ace sat, the archaeologist having been able to get to the tree top silently much how an assassin would have.

"Just..." Ace didn't even know what to say, he couldn't even get his own thoughts together. He knew that the woman standing next to him was known back on their world as a Demon Child, yet that same person had become a part of Luffy's nakama and as such he had to give her credit for being able to put up with the rubber man. "I had put everything from that world behind me, I didn't even consider the possibility of being able to see Luffy again...yet here we are."

"Some things are just unprecedented," said Robin. "The tales of your disappearance ran through the Grand Line for many months, some debating that you were dead while others claimed that you had gone into hiding, waiting for the moment to strike to take the title of Pirate King. Yet both were inaccurate."

A small snarl slipped across Ace's lips for a moment before he composed himself. Pirate King...that had always been Luffy's ambition, he wanted nothing of the sort. "Well I doubt we'll be going back soon if at all, it's time to bring new dreams into the equation."

"Luffy's already got a new dream," said Robin which caused Ace's attention to peak. "He hopes to make Fairy Tail the number one guild in Fiore."

"You mean we're not the number one guild anymore?"

"We currently hold the title of the lowest legal guild," said Robin which caused Ace to chuckle ever so slightly.

"So, we're climbing our way from the ground up," said Ace as he put his hands behind his head as he leant into the bulk of the tree. "Kind of like getting a bounty all over again."

"I guess you could put it that way," said Robin.

"But I doubt you came out here just to tell me about the guild's current standing, what are you really after?" asked Ace, his eyes focusing on the woman before him.

"Nothing too much," said Robin. "I found out all that I needed to know for now. I shall see you around." Nothing more was said as Robin descended to the ground, multiple limbs ensuring that her feet gracefully touched the floor without so much as rustling the grass beneath her feet. Ace continued to watch the black haired woman carefully as she strode back to the guild, slowly vanishing into the safety of Fairy Tail's walls.

"What are you planning?" muttered Ace but thought nothing more on the subject as he heard the noises erupting from the guild begin to quieten down, possibly the battle had come to a close. He choose to stay outside though and let his mind be at ease for a little longer, it wasn't like they were going anywhere anytime soon. Deciding to go see what had changed since he had last been in town, he hopped down from the tree and decided to go walk through town.

...

As Ace hadn't been a part of the guild for very long, he was neither recognised nor recognised much of what was located around him. He was sure that after seven years the town would have changed a great deal in the time he was gone but hadn't the foggiest idea of what was the same and what had changed. A defeated sigh escaped his lips as he ran his hand through his hair when he realised something. "Damn it, I left my hat back at the guild," he muttered looking up towards the hill where the guild was located.

"Well, look what we got here," said a sinister voice from nearby. Ace turned his head casually, looking at the brute of a man standing before him, several lackeys standing faithfully by his side. "If it isn't one of those Fairy Flies."

"You don't have any standing here ya know, this is our territory, Twilight Ogre's turf" said another one as he adjusted the headband tied around his brow.

"You make it sound like those flies have any standing at all," said another one which caused them all to laugh.

"You hear that fly, beat it or we'll beat you," threatened the brute as he cracked his knuckles intimidating.

"You know the annoying thing about flies," said Ace as a small smirk glistened across his lips, "Is that no matter how many times you swat at them they never seem to go away."

"Why you..."

"Calm yourself, remember we've got to make him throw the first punch," whispered a nearby lackey which seemed to cool off the head of the group of only slightly.

"Be happy that I'm feeling generous today punk, otherwise I'd be scrapping your remains off the bottom of my boot but a weakling like you isn't even worth it, none of you fools are. Fairy Tail is for old fools and people who have no ambition left," said the man with an air of superiority.

"You can say all you want about me," said Ace as his fist burst into fire, "But as soon as you bring my nakama into it you, you should be begging for your life."

...

"Gomu Gomu no..."

...

"Oh, the dog can bark like the rest of those mutts he calls his, 'nakama.' Why don't you show that you've got some bite behind that whimper of yours," baited the burly man, knowing that as soon as he was struck Twilight Ogre would have enough evidence to send to the council in order to push Fairy Tail to the brink of being shut down for good.

...

"ROCKET!"

...

"Count yourselves lucky though, I can tell exactly what you're doing," stated Ace. "As soon as a member of Fairy Tail strikes you, you can make a formal complaint to the council. My solution to that...I'm going to have to make it that you're never going to be able to say a word again," said Ace maliciously, beads of sweat forming on their brows as the heat from Ace's hand began to become unbearable. Ace knew they were only seconds away from backing down but they didn't get a chance as a flying body surged pass at an unimaginable speed, the human connecting with the group side on sending them careening into a nearby wall with enough force to knock them all out. Ace stood there confused as all traces of his power vanished as Luffy stood in front of him, a piece of paper held tightly in his hand.

"Hey Ace, I found us a mission," proclaimed Luffy, holding up the mission slip in his hand with a broad grin in his hand. Ace said nothing as he looked at the heap of bodies twitching nearby. "Who are they, are they your friends?" asked Luffy.

"They're nobody, come on, let's go do this mission," said Ace which caused Luffy to yell in joy, the two brothers walking towards the edge of town, the fire man figuring that since the attack had come from side on there was no way that they would be able to link the attack back to Fairy Tail.

...

**Hope you enjoyed.**

**Automail-gHost: I kinda needed to put in the time skip, it wouldn't have worked otherwise and Canon would have been destroyed. Just curious though, what part are you yelling about, the council thingy? You have me confused.**

**Xoraan: At this stage I'm not initialising any romantic interests but as for what could happen further down the tracks...only time will tell.**

**Peace out.**


	18. Chapter 18

**Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece or Fairy Tail**

**...**

"Ha, I can't believe that I've got a higher bounty than you!" exclaimed Luffy as he adjusted the straw hat that had given him his namesake.

"You effectively declared war on the world, if you didn't have a higher bounty than me I'd be appalled," replied Ace as he and the rubber boy walked up the cliff to where the Fairy Tail guild was currently located. The mission had gone smoother than anticipated, that being said Ace hadn't exactly had the highest hopes knowing that his hyperactive brother was joining him. They had still made a profit, however that had all gone down the drain at the last town they had passed when Luffy got attracted to the smell of meat and charged head first into a restaurant.

"Anyways, how'd you get your bounty?" asked Luffy, curious about Ace's exploits.

"Did this here and there, pissed off a few people, took down a few battleships, the usual," Ace replied casually, the result causing Luffy to have several stars in his eyes.

"COOL! You must be strong!" exclaimed Luffy. Luffy had selected the mission in the hope that he and Ace would have been able to fight alongside one another again, Ace had been able to complete the mission without needing to resort to violence. Most of the money loss through the mission had covered the extensive food bill that the two left at every destination, plus a little collateral damage on the side.

"Trust me, just because you've got a higher bounty doesn't mean that I couldn't beat you in a fight," goaded Ace, secretly hoping that Luffy would start a fight with him just so that he could see just how far his brother had come. Yet before anything could be said, one of the windows of the guild building was shattered as Erza came soaring out, broken shards of glass glistening around her as she prepared for another attack, her sword bracing for anything. She was quickly rewarded for her preparation as Zoro leapt through the opening, Franky yelling obscure insults at the way the two of them treated the property. His words though went unheard, the only thing that mattered to the two swordsman were the opponent in front of them.

A clash of sparks appeared as two swords collided, Zoro only using one of his patented katanas for the conflict as per rules instructed at the beginning of the bout. From their standing point, Luffy and Ace could see a smirk upon Zoro's face, yet for Erza there seemed only frustration. Beads of sweat had formed on Erza's brow as she tried to overpower Zoro to no avail. Prior to this fight she had bore witness to Lily and Zoro testing their skills, yet it was clear that the green haired warrior was merely toying with the Exceed. Sadly she felt that she too was merely being toyed with which angered her to no avail. Any combatant that approached her with a smug look upon their face more often than not ended up with their nose in the ground. While she had been expecting a similar bout in this instance she was proven wrong as she found herself seemingly in a situation she was unsure she could win.

"Erza's...losing," said Natsu in disbelief as he and a vast number of guild members rushed out the door to watch the fight unfold.

"She's not using any magic, surely she'd have the advantage if she changed her armour or weapons," said Gray trying to come up with a believable story but from the tone in his voice that he wasn't confident in his own words. Makarov watched with a calculated expression, clearly with all of these new recruits around he was going to have to step up his own game. His attention shifted across to Natsu, the fire mage having lost a fight to Max earlier that day, something which had generally shocked him.

"Zoro's only ever lost one battle," stated Nami as she watched on. "The scar across his chest is the proof that he survived a strike that had sliced a ship in half minutes earlier."

"You guys all have some freaky powers," said Bickslow, his small dolls chanting 'Freaky' as they floated around him. Laxus also stood nearby, watching not the fight unfolding but rather the captain who stood alongside Ace. Makarov had been announced the sixth guild master of Fairy Tail only minutes after Gildarts was acknowledged as the fifth master. The one thing Gildarts had done however was ensure that Laxus was once again a part of the guild and that was to reinstate Laxus as a member of the guild. After a discussion with Makarov he was also given back his title of being an S ranked magician and with it all of the responsibilities it held. S ranked wizards were considered the strongest within the guild, and while his fellow S class wizard Erza was struggling with her fight he knew from talking with the guild members that at this stage there was nearly no physical way he could go in to a bout with Luffy and walk away victorious. After talking to a few people he had discovered that Luffy's entire body was made of rubber and slowly he began to realise the potential trouble such an effect would have. He didn't need to be a genius to know that his lightning based attacks would be ineffective against the rubber boy so his brain was working overtime as he tried to construct an idea in his mind about how to go actually be able to fight a person with that sort of unique ability but no matter how hard he tried the solution alluded him. This was not something that boded well with the lightning mage.

With a roar of anger, Erza slashed away at Zoro who effortlessly weaved and dodged around the attacks as if it was nothing before finding an opening and slamming the hilt of his sword into Erza's armour. For a moment nothing happened as everybody watched stunned before a large spider web shaped crack ripped through the armour, nearly shattering it. Standing there in a sense of transparent shock, Erza swallowed as she realised that she was severely outclassed with the conditions as they were.

"It's my victory," said Zoro calmly as he sheathed his blade.

"The fight's still going," said Erza as she tried to get her limbs to respond but it was almost as if she was paralysed by fear.

"We could continue the fight if you want but if I hurt you at all the lousy chef over there is going to yell at me," said Zoro as he chucked his thumb over his shoulder towards where Sanji was standing, the cook however missing the comment as he was giving a fruity beverage to Mirajane.

"That's enough Erza," said Makarov in a commanding tone.

"Oi ji-san!" claimed Luffy pointing at Makarov. "You're the old master right?"

"New," said Makarov, a small depressing cloud seemingly floating above his head.

"Since Zoro got to challenge somebody I want to as well, is that alright?" asked Luffy. Back on the Grand Line he would have leapt straight into combat with the person of his choice but having been in Earthland he wanted to ask permission before initiating combat with one of the guild members.

"What say you fourth master?" asked Makarov turning towards Macao.

"Hey, you're the master now, not me," said Macao trying to wave the responsibility away. "Although I've seen Luffy fight before, it's like nothing I've ever seen."

"Well you've piqued my interest, alright Luffy who do you want to fight?" asked Makarov waving his hand towards the members of the guild. Those who had previously seen Luffy fight seemed to back away slightly, not wanting to stand toe to toe with the rubber boy. Ace meanwhile was rubbing his eyes in frustration, believing that Luffy was going to pick him no matter what.

"I choose you ji-san," said Luffy smiling broadly which got an audible gasp from the people around them.

"Wanting to fight Master?" said Natsu in disbelief.

"That's a man!" shouted Elfman, tears of joy seemingly running down his face.

"Master's one of the ten strongest wizards in the land," exclaimed Erza, trying to make Luffy see the foolishness of his choice.

"That's why I want to fight him," said Luffy smiling, the members of his crew seemingly having known this was bound to happen at some stage.

"Master you don't have to do this," said Macao towards both his predecessor and successor.

"Well with all these young people having joined the guild I think it would be worthwhile to show them just what's needed in order to be the guild master," said Makarov as he stepped forward.

"Good luck Luffy," said Ace as he patted his brother on the back before the rubber boy walked in to the centre of the makeshift battleground, no fear in his eyes as he stared down at the master of the guild. Many watched with anticipation, a lot of them previously knowing that Natsu was the only one foolish enough to go toe to toe with the master. While Macao prepared to unleash the command for the battle to begin, he was denied the pleasure as Luffy charged straight forward, his arm extending backwards several metres before bursting forward at a tremendous speed.

"His arm stretched!" exclaimed Wendy thinking that Luffy had a horrendous medical disorder, the thought of it being his ability crossing her mind only moments later. Makarov however caught the flying appendage with a single hand, the attack seemingly having minimal effect on the elderly man. Luffy, who caught up to his arm a second later, found himself bouncing backwards as Makarov drove an uppercut into the rubber boy's jaw. Luffy quickly bounced back in to his feet but however found that Makarov was nowhere to be seen.

"Look up!" shouted Nami, warning her captain of the incoming danger. Luffy followed her directions but quickly had to shield his eyes from the rays of sunlight that hid Makarov from view. By the time he saw the gigantic fist descending towards he had little time to dodge as he was crushed underneath Makarov's strength.

Many people gasped as Makarov landed thinking that the elderly man had taken a backyard spar too far as his arm returned to its normal size. "Oi, oi, oi, I thought Luffy was the only one that could stretch his limbs!" exclaimed Ussop having been incredibly freaked out by what he had just witnessed.

"It's masters Titan magic," explained Lisanna. "That's not the only magic he can do however."

"You mean that small person can do stronger attacks then that!" screamed Chopper in fear, wondering just how strong the guild master was.

"C'mon Luffy, if you're body's made of rubber then you shouldn't have even been dealt damage by that," said Makarov. While true that the captain of the Straw Hats hadn't taken any damage, he had found himself waist deep into the ground, making it difficult for him to move.

"Wow you can make your arm huge!" said Luffy impressed as he tried to push himself out of the hole. A sly idea came into his head as he bit on to his thumb. "You're not the only one who can increase in size though. Gear Third!"

Inhaling deeply, Luffy blew into his thumb ad Makarov braced himself for what was about to come. From the sidelines, Ace watched on in curiosity as Luffy performed the technique he had labelled 'Gear Third.' Clearly through his journey on the Grand Line he had been forced to develop new techniques much like he had, but as far as he knew rubber only had limited properties. His surprise as Luffy inflated himself to gigantic proportions however was astounding.

The battle seemed to be escalating quickly and Makarov knew that he had to put a stop to it before it got out of hand, yet he figured Luffy was like Natsu and wouldn't stop until the bout was over. Yet in his entire career as both a wizard and guild master of Fairy Tail he had never found himself facing a technique that was much like his own. The air flow through Luffy's body switched to his stomach, causing the ground around him to expand outwards which in turn shot him upwards into the sky. Makarov, beginning to get an understanding for what Luffy was planning, quickly began to grow in size, ultimately scaring Chopper to no regards as the reindeer called out "Monster" repeatedly.

"Gomu Gomu no," started Luffy as the air in his body towards his leg which grew to gigantic proportions. "AXE!"

The guild watched in awe as Luffy's leg descended towards them, several realising that the shockwave which would occur if the leg connected with the ground would almost cause the nearby mountain to crumble. Yet Luffy's leg didn't connect with the ground, but rather Makarov's guard as he held both his arms above his head, protecting himself from the blow. Twin craters formed where Makarov's feet were as he was pushed into the ground with extreme force. "He's bigger than a giant!" shouted Ussop in fear, having seen the sizable warriors of Elbaf first hand.

"This has gone on far enough," commanded Makarov, his voice booming with power as he twisted his wrists slightly so that he had a hold of Luffy's leg. Luffy's eyes went wide as he felt himself being swung through the air, a shout of horror escaping his lips as he was tossed like a pebble towards the forest with enough force that his body pierced through several trees before coming to a stop.

The members of the Straw Hats were both shocked and amazed that Luffy had lost a battle yet to the one people gave the title of 'Master' to it seemed a fitting end. A smirk crossed Ace's lips, a part of him actually growing excited for the battle which lay ahead. As Makarov shrunk to his normal size, he sighed in relief before a crude smile spread across his mouth, having enjoyed the bout with Luffy and knew that it wouldn't be the last. As for Luffy, he too was smiling as he returned to his normal size from the after effects of accessing 'Gear Third.' "So the ji-san was strong," he said as he readjusted the hat on his head. He was looking forward to what lied ahead nearly more than anybody else.

...

Once Luffy had returned to the guild hall, the members of Fairy Tail gathered around the bar where Makarov stood proudly. "After having witnessed the events displayed, I must say that I am very impressed with the strength of the guild members," he announced. "I am also aware of both the fact that we are currently the lowest ranked guild in Fairy Tail." Makarov turned to look at Macao briefly who seemed to sink into the shadows, trying to avoid eye contact as the sixth Master continued. "Finally, I know of a way of gaining thirty...excuse me, regaining our lost rank and become the number one guild of Fiore. The Grand Magic Games, a competition where we will test our strengths against the other guilds and prove that we are still deserving of being called the greatest guild. The tournament is held in three months time. It is true that some of us have not improved due to various circumstances and may not be able to compete against people who were once their equal. We've been last in every competition but we'll take that crummy record and shove it into the ground."

"Now you're talking gramps," proclaimed Natsu as he stood up on a table.

"Like I said, we've been last every competition since it began," said Jet, having participated in the evens on several occasions.

"We won't be last when we've got Natsu-ni, Erza-san and even people like Luffy and Ace," said Romeo with confidence radiating in his voice.

"But still, there's only so much that can be done within three months," said Wakaba disheartedly.

"On the contrary, if one pours there heart and soul into becoming stronger within a certain limit of time there is no telling what one might accomplish," analysed Robin.

"This is going to be great!" shouted Luffy excitedly, having looked forward to these events ever since he had been told about them from Romeo.

"I've already decided that we're going to be competing and that's that so no complaining," stated Makarov. "Let's achieve Gildarts dream of becoming the number one guild in Fiore! Team Fairy Tail is going to enter the Grand Magic Games."

...

"Three months of solid training," said Ace as he watched as several groups departed in a number of directions, each intending to spend the time given to catch up on the strength they would have gained if they hadn't been trapped in suspended animation.

"Yo Ace, you're going to come training with us right?" asked Luffy as the members of the Straw Hat pirates stood nearby.

"With you coming with us it would just be SUPER!" shouted Franky as he slammed his forearms together.

"Actually," said Ace as he turned towards the entrance of the guild where he saw Natsu standing there. "I'm going to go join the crew I've been fighting alongside for a while now."

"Why won't you join us?" asked Luffy, confusion written across his face.

"Because you wouldn't want to know what I'm capable of before we fight, that'd be cheating," said Ace with a smirk.

"Okay, that's fair," said Luffy.

"Oi Luffy, you sure about that, after your fight with him he's already seen what you're capable of so if anything he's cheating," said Sanji quickly analysing what was going on.

"No, it's fine," said Luffy with a smile. "Ace could beat me when we were kids but when we compete in the tournament I'll be sure to kick his ass."

"Anyways I'm a pirate through and through, I'm expected to cheat," said Ace as he tilted his hat with his forefinger.

"Wait," said Erza as she and the rest of the gang intending to train alongside one another. "We're competing on the same team, so why would you kick his ass in the tournament?" she asked of the rubber boy.

"That's because..." Luffy started but found himself cut off as Zoro and Sanji covered his mouth.

"It was a slip of the tongue mademoiselle, nothing more," said Sanji apologetically.

"Getting knocked through those trees probably knocked some sense out of him," said Zoro trying to think of a liable excuse.

"I don't think Luffy had any sense to begin with," said Ussop off to the side but he was thankfully ignored.

"If you say so," said Erza but she clearly wasn't buying it.

"C'mon you guys, training times a wasting," said Natsu excitedly, momentarily forgetting that there was going to be transport from here to the intended training destination.

"Ace, you coming?" asked Gray who somehow between the front door to where he was standing now he had lost his shirt.

"Give me a minute," he said as he stepped towards where Luffy was, the rubber boy immediately realising what was going to happen as he lifted his hand up for Ace to clasp his hand within Luffy's. "In three months you'll get the fight you're after, and you better be ready."

"Trust me Ace, I'm not going to lose to you again," said Luffy, sharing the same smirk that Ace bore. All watching smiled at the scene as the two brothers prepared to part ways for three months, knowing that once the training was done there would be much to celebrate, especially once Fairy Tail held the number one guild in Fiore rank once more.

...

**Hope you enjoyed.**

**First off I'm sorry for the delay of this chapter, I've been swamped by university work as of late and also have recently completed an episode of a Fairy Tail Abridged Series I've been working on. I actually had to create it for a university topic and had a great time doing it. If you want to check it out the link is on my fanfiction profile.**

**Miyu Hinamori: When constructing a logical way of getting the Straw Hats to Fiore, I had to construct what the One Piece world would have been like provided that Ace wasn't there.**

**Mugiwara Family: At least stage, the only person who has shown any skill in utilising Haki is Ace but his control is poor. While Luffy has the ability to learn Haki, that doesn't necessarily mean he will use it in this fic.**

**Xoraan: Well consider Luffy probably wouldn't even know how long such a thing would take, to him a title like that is a big deal.**

**Ultimate-Zelda-Fan: Bink's sake can't just be used at any time, one needs to wait for the opportune moment.**

**Lord Sigfry: Thanks for the constructive criticism, I will try to rectify this for future chapters.**

**Once again I ask of you to please have a look at by Abridged Series, the responses that I get actually help determine the final grade I will receive. Anyways...**

**Ja Ne.**


	19. Chapter 19

**Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece or Fairy Tail**

**...**

Flames danced from his fingers as onlookers peered on in awe. A crowd had surrounded Ace as he gracefully shifted across the beach performing a continuing chain of frontal attacks. Behind him, fellow members of Fairy Tail pushed themselves to the limit as they trained harshly under the burning sun…well most of them at least.

"My sandcastle's going to be better than yours Gray!" proclaimed Natsu as he worked on the construction of his own sculpture.

"There's no way your pile of sand will beat my masterpiece!" boasted Gray.

A tick of irritation formed on Ace's head as he unloaded a crescent kick, knocking the head off of an imaginary opponent before driving his elbow forward into where the sternum would be located. Twisting on his back foot, as he rotated he formed a lance of fire in each hand, gracefully tossing them into the ocean where they extinguished upon contact. Finishing off his routine, he took notice of a member of the crowd and pointed directly at them, lighting the cigarette they had just placed between their lips.

A wild round of applause followed as the crowd showed their appreciation for what Ace had demonstrated but the former pirate had other things on his mind as the people slowly returned to what they had previously been doing. His mind had returned to the day in which they had returned to Fairy Tail and Juvia had taken on Nico Robin. Like himself, Juvia had an elemental body but had taken damage from the item Robin had carried. He had heard rumours of how manipulative she could be, and as such believed that she would leak information to Luffy in regards to how Ace couldn't be beaten but normal standards. If Luffy was given a glove or a similar item which held the same properties as Erza's Flame Empress Armor and landed a giant blow much like the one he had unloaded on Makarov, Ace knew that the fight would not end in his favour. This was of course provided that the two of them eventually confronted one another within the tournament, although he chuckled as he figured that if they didn't fight within the tournament they would compete against one another at another time.

"Something wrong Ace?" asked Levy having approached the fire man. Ace turned towards the blue haired girl, never really having gotten to know her so far.

"Just trying to figure a few things out," admitted Ace as he ran his fingers through his hair, his hat resting upon a nearby rock safely.

"Maybe I can help you out," said Levy cheerfully. "What do you want to know?"

"Are there forms of magic that can render fire useless?"

"Well I know there are magical abilities that can nullify other forms of magic in general, but for something like that you'd need to look at the properties of fire," explained Levy. "An example would be if you were confronted by a high powered wind mage. A fire cannot be ignited if the wind around it is strong enough."

"So you're saying that since I'm made of fire, I'm susceptible to the properties of fire," analysed Ace to which he received a nod of approval. "Damn, I never had to think about these sorts of things back on the Grand Line."

"Maybe you should spend a day or two in the library, try and work out your strengths and weaknesses," suggested Levy.

"There's a library nearby?"

"It's near the centre of town, about a kilometre that way," stated Levy pointing towards the middle of the city.

"I think I'll take you up on that, before that though." Ace paused as he looked across the beach until his eyes fell upon the youngest of the group, silently working her way through the documents she had gotten whilst he had been on his mission. "Hey Wendy, could you come over here for a second!"

"Ah, Ace," she said getting up from her position, brushing some of the sand from her legs as she placed the paper underneath a rock for safekeeping before running towards where Ace was. On her way though her foot caught a small ditch and as a result she found herself with her face buried within the sand which thankfully was much more forgiving than a number of the much more solid areas she had fallen upon. Rubbing the sand out of her eyes, she walked next to Levy and looked up at Ace only to feel his soft hand grace her right cheek, brushing away some sand that she had missed. "Thank you," she said regaining some of her previous cheer.

"You know I'm having a problem Wendy and I need you to help me," said Ace.

"I'll do my best!" proclaimed Wendy, ready to do anything that Ace would want of her.

"I want you to hit me with your strongest attack."

Anything except that.

"What? Why would you want me to do that?" asked the young girl in shock.

"You use an advanced form of wind magic, I need to see whether or not I can ignite myself when the elements are against me. Consider it a form of training," explained Ace trying to break down the situation.

"Okay then," said Wendy nervously as Ace walked towards the waters edge. Inhaling deeply, Wendy began to channel her magical energy but as she looked at Ace, she felt her concentration wane as she didn't want to strike out at a team mate.

"Don't picture me as your friend," said Ace encouragingly.

"But…"

"Look at me like a member of a rival team, and if you can't pull through then you can say goodbye to Fairy Tail's hopes of becoming the number one guild."

"Okay then," said Wendy clearing her mind. Instead of picturing Ace as a member of Fairy Tail though, she recalled the adventures he had told her about, times when he had been the cause of hundreds of deaths. She visualised him not as a friend, but as a criminal that needed to be stopped. "Roar of the Sky Dragon!"

A smile swept across Ace's face as he dug his feet into the sand as the violent wind nearly blew him backwards. Channelling his power, he tried to summon flames from his hands but only a couple of embers sprouted before they were consumed by the gale force winds. Changing tact, Ace tried to summon flames from his entire body and while he managed to ignite himself it was only momentarily before it was blown out. Raising his hand, Levy got the message and told Wendy to cease her attack.

"Cheers for that," said Ace casually as he walked to where the pair of blue haired girls stood. "I think I've just found one of my weaknesses I need to work on," admitted the former pirate as he picked up his hat and placed it back on top of his head, tilting it ever so slightly upwards.

"Glad I could help," said Wendy wiping a few beads of sweat from her brow with the back of her hand. "Anyways, I need to get back to deciphering what Porlyusica gave me."

"Want a hand?" offered Levy to which her fellow blue haired Fairy Tail member nodded approvingly, the two of them bidding farewell before heading back to where the documents were. Ace meanwhile turned his attention to the horizon before him, the glimmers of sunlight dancing off the gentle waves. He knew one of his weaknesses now and knew that he would discover as much as he could over the next three months. The problem though was how could he combat against it?

…

With the moon hanging high in the air, Ace made his way back onto the beach. He was having difficulty getting to sleep as thoughts and ideas continued to flow through his head. When obtaining the powers of the Mera Mera Fruit, he had thought himself unstoppable but only now was he realizing that he had a set of weaknesses like anybody else. Then there was the alternate power he knew he possessed but knew that there wouldn't be any books in the library that could help him control that.

Nearby he saw the smoldering remains of a fire, the people who had extinguished it having tossed a mixture of sand and dirt over the base, suffocating the kindling. Running his hand through his hair once more, he realized that this was another problem he may encounter. Picking up a handful of dirt, he smothered it over his palm before igniting his fist, the flames illuminating the darkness around him. Through the dancing fire however he noticed that the fire burning through the patch of dirt however was smaller than the rest of the fire produced by his hand.

Extinguishing the flames, he dusted his hands against one another and removed the dirt from his palm. While he could still get his way through a small amount, if somebody were to completely smother him then there was a possibility that he wouldn't be able to ignite at all. At least this was something he could confirm tomorrow when looking through the library.

Rubbing his eyes, he started making his way back to the cabin he was staying in, intending on getting a good deal of sleep under his belt before spending the next day with his nose in the books.

…

Having never spent anytime in a library, Ace had very little knowledge on what to expect. He had had no trouble finding the place, asking the woman at the counter he had been directed to the area he was after and was now rubbing his eyes in frustration. There were two divisions relating to fire, one for magical and the other for non-magical purposes.

"'_The Hundred and One Do's and Don'ts of Fire_,' '_Fire: Hot or Not,' 'The Pros and Cons of Burns.' _Who the hell names these things?" Ace asked of himself as he scoured the titles of the books. Hidden in his pocket was a pair of Gale Force Reading Glasses that Levy had leant him so that he could get through a good deal of information in a little amount of time. While thankful, he wasn't particularly proud of the glasses that would enhance his reading capabilities by eighteen times the normal speed. The design of the glasses wasn't something he had ever imagined he would need nor want. As it was though, he needed every advantage he could get and vowed to find an isolated corner in the middle of nowhere where he could read without being seen.

Finally coming across what looked like some worthwhile reading material, he plucked multiple books off of the shelves before making his way across to the magical fire section. Even upon entry to the section he could tell that this definitely had what he was after. Centrally because the shelves were at least three times as high, the only way to actually reach the top shelf would be through a very large ladder.

It took a little time to find what he was after but eventually got what he believed to be a decent amount of titles that should help him on his way. Pushing his trolley off to the side, he found a nice isolated area where he placed his stack of books and took a seat, the task before him seemingly daunting. Opening up the first book, he took the Gale Force Reading Glasses out of his pocket and put them on his face, ignoring the seemingly frilly wings that were attached to the frame.

As soon as he started reading he had to pause, blinking a couple of times as he felt his eyes scour the page at a pace he didn't even know was possible. Lightly slapping his face a couple times, he got back to the book and allowed the glasses to do their thing as information rushed at him.

Skimming through the introduction of '_Components of Fire' _he got to the brunt of the book he was after. "Hm-hm, hm-hm, I see," he mumbled as he flicked page after page, praying that he remembered all of the relevant information. Only five minutes had passed before he closed the book, the final page having just been read. Using a blank page and pen, he marked down information he believed he would find necessary at a later date, such as natural flame colour and intensity.

Bypassing a handful of scientific books, he zoned into the magical section and pulled out a book entitled, '_Fire Magic: How to control the uncontrollable element.' _Getting zoned into his work, hours would pass before Ace would leave that desk and at that time it was only for more paper to write upon. He should have been finished much sooner yet he had collapsed into a sleeping heap halfway through the fifth book.

…

Ace rubbed at his temples as he walked away from the library, the staff having found him unconscious once again after closing hours. Having thanked them, Ace had left as the sun had begun to set. "I wonder how everybody else went today," he pondered. It didn't take him long to reach the cabin and instead of being met by the rest of his nakama he found himself confronted by Jet and Droy. "Where is everyone?"

"Levy's gone!" they cried out in shock, their eyes red and puffy having had shed tears for hours on end.

"Gone where?" asked Ace.

"Virgo came and whisked everybody off to the spirit world, leaving us behind," explained Jet as Droy stuffed his mouth with a large piece of chicken.

"You guys have any idea when they'll get back?" asked Ace to which he received a shake of the head. "If those guys are getting special one on one training I swear to kami..."

"By the way, did you discover anything in the library?" asked Droy. A witty smile crossed Ace's lips as he pulled several pieces of folded paper from his pocket, each carrying a vast number of scribbled notes that the fire man had gotten access to.

"There's a few things I need to get some confirmation with, because I'm not entirely sure what some of the properties of fire are."

"You need to get in contact with the fourth master," said Droy.

"He uses Purple Flare Fire Magic," explained Jet. "Unlike normal fire, it actually takes on a physical form in that it can be used to pick up items while normal fire would allow the item to pass through it."

"Romeo might be able to help you as well, he uses Rainbow Fire," said Droy.

"Why are you so interested anyways, out of everyone we expected you to be the one training most vigorously and here you are simply gathering data?" asked Jet as he crossed his arms over his chest.

"Because," started Ace as he stepped inside, closing the door behind him, "I need to know what my limitations are." Holding up the paper, a smirk crossed his face. "Over the next three months, not only am I going to push myself to the limit, I'm going to be the most feared fire mage in Fiore!"

...

**Hope you enjoyed.**

**Turtle: The straw hats only arrived in Earthland the previous year, hence this is the first competition they potentially be competing in.**

**Anyways, Ja Ne.**


	20. Chapter 20

**Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece or Fairy Tail**

**...**

"Knuckle Plant!"

Watching the vines extend towards him, Ace weaved and bobbed his way through an onslaught of attacks as Droy continued to send more magical plants in his direction. Both Ace and the remaining members of Team Shadow Gear had decided that every morning they were going to have a two on one spar, and Ace had made the exception that he would not make his body go into an elemental state in order to even the odds.

The former pirate had been the one to come up with the idea, not so much to focus on his own offensive abilities but rather focus on the defensive side of his combat style. Back on the Grand Line he had always charged headfirst into a battle with the knowledge that only those who knew how to utilise Haki would be able to injure him. Now though there was a multitude of ways for him to take damage and as such wanted to focus on being able to avoid taking blows head on and rather find an alternate way around them.

"Hayabusa Tenshō," shouted Jet as he leapt off a plant he had been riding upon. Having heard the technique, Ace chose not to waste precious seconds by looking towards where Jet was but rather quickly leapt out of the way, only a split second before Jet's heel crashed into the sand. Ace quickly found himself on the defensive once again as several more plants attempted to bombard him with blows. Weaving around them however left him open as Jet charged forward with a burst of speed, attempting to punch Ace in the face. Lifting his arms, Ace managed to successfully block the first attack but felt a secondary attack in the form of a knee come up and crash into the base of his ribs.

While bile escaped from his lips, he was able to concentrate enough to grip Jet by the shoulders, the speedy magician quickly finding himself in an unescapable grasp before he was thrown skywards, into the path of an oncoming violent plant. "Jet," cried Droy as he witnessed his teammate get hit by his attack, this break in concentration however was all Ace needed to go on the offensive. Droy reached into his back pocket and prepared for drastic countermeasures. "Kabe Plant!" he shouted as he tossed several seeds in front of him, the magical plants springing forward to form a defensive wall between him and Ace. Yet it did little to stop Ace's assault as a piercing lance of fire speared through the wall, coming to a stop only inches away from Droy's face. Beads of sweat ran down his face as he breathed a quick sigh of relief, only to feel the cold metal of Ace's knife rest atop his shoulder.

"I win," claimed Ace calmly as he held the blade in place. A groan of defeat escaped Droy's lips as the magical plants he had summoned vanished in a brilliant glow of light. Without the weight of Droy's attack holding him in place, Jet got up to his hands and knees, brushing the sand from his lips with the back of his hand.

"Can't believe you're that good without trying," said Jet as he rejoined with the other two mages.

"Don't be too hard on yourselves," said Ace reassuringly. "You've got good synchronisation which is something you should be proud of."

"Thanks," said Droy as he ate a piece of fried chicken that had seemingly come out of nowhere.

"Well good luck with your training, I'll see you guys tonight and we'll have another match in the morning," said Ace as he took off at a jog, the two Fairy Tail mages waving in the background. With his adrenaline pumping as it was, Ace was determined to get run a few miles in order to improve his endurance levels if only slightly. Yet he hadn't even taken the first corner when he felt the presence of somebody watching him.

Coming to a stop, he surveyed the people on the street surrounding him but couldn't see any that were watching him or deliberately avoiding eye contact. In a nearby alleyway however he did see a glimpse of a small white dress and quickly made a beeline through the crowd to enter the area. The person he found hiding poorly had his mouth agape. "First Master?" he said in disbelief as he looked at the petite form of the first master of Fairy Tail.

For the longest of moments the two merely looked at one another, before tears started to swell up in Mavis' eyes. "I...I thought I had a good hiding spot," she said as she sobbed softly.

"You did, you did," said Ace shaking his hands back and forth as he tried to make amends for something he had unintentionally done. "I...uh...just used to play hide and seek with my brothers a lot so finding people is kind of like second nature," he said trying to make it sound believable.

"Really?" said Mavis looking up at him hopefully.

"Yea we did," said Ace with a smile. He knew it was kind of a half truth, knowing that he and Luffy had often found themselves hiding away from hired goons whenever one of their adventures to town had gone pear shaped.

"Okay then," said Mavis as she brushed the tears from her eyes, cheering up slightly with the news.

"Excuse me for asking...but, shouldn't you be back on Tenroujima?" asked Ace.

"Well it gets boring being there with nobody else to talk to, so I thought I'd come and support you guys for the tournament," explained Mavis.

"That's nice to know," said Ace with a smile.

"Except, I wanted it to be a surprise...but now that I've been found..." Once more tears appeared within the corners of Mavis' eyes.

"I won't tell anybody, I swear," said Ace reassuringly, not wanting the first master to cry.

"Thank you," said Mavis. "Since you're doing that for me, I should probably help you as well."

"That's really not necessary, I'm going to be getting the information I need from Macao," explained Ace.

"I can save you the trouble," said Mavis, her tone becoming serious. "Ace, your magic is not of this world, I don't even know if you have the capability of learning any of the magic that we contain. I figure there is roughly an eighty percent chance that you wish to contact one of the mages back at the guild to enquire about learning fire magic."

"You're good," admitted Ace, pondering over how long Mavis had been watching what they had been doing.

"With that being said, you're power is greater than many fire mages," continued Mavis. "However, while you cannot use magic the same way that we can, your strength is not as limited as ours; I can't even calculate if you would run out of magical energy after hours upon hours of fighting."

"I fought a pirate warlord called Jimbei to a draw after five days of solid fighting if that helps your calculations."

"That is not surprising, but putting that to the side, you could be one of the strongest members of Fairy Tail, yet I believe there is only a fourteen percent chance that the third master will select you to join the team to participate in the competition with an extra eight percent chance that you would be selected as a reserve member."

"So you're saying there's no chance that I'll even compete in the tournament?"

"That is provided, you focus solely on your fire abilities," said Mavis which caused Ace to raise his eyebrows, wondering how the first master of Fairy Tail knew about his inherited strength. "You hold a power unlike anything else, you merely need to be able to harness it."

"So what do you suggest first master?"

"There is no point in increasing your levels of endurance; if you are able to compete in combat for five days straight then competing in a tournament of this calibre will be no problem to you. While your endurance levels are excellent, there is no shame in increasing your top speed of both your running abilities, your attacks and your reaction time, the last two more so than the first. Your fire magic doesn't hold properties like normal fire magic, but rather fire as a whole. Utilise that knowledge to your advantage."

"And what about my other power?"

Mavis turned and pointed towards a nearby mountain. "In two months time, go to the peak of the mountain where the snow is the heaviest this time of year. You are to spend nine days in the cold conditions where creatures thrice the size of you will attempt to eat you or get you off of their territory by force. Under no circumstance are you permitted to leave the area until noon of the ninth day. I believe that should give you enough time to be able to willingly be able to tap into your strength but not sufficient enough to the point where you could label it as being mastered. So long as you are able to access it, it is enough."

"So you're saying that I need to be able to show off to the current master that I can use this power and my chances of becoming a part of the team will dramatically improve," summarised Ace.

"I assess that your chances would climb by at least sixty percent dependent on how much strength the rest of the guild members achieve," explained Mavis.

"Well then, you've given me a lot to think upon," said Ace. "Thank you for the advice first master."

"I find it interesting," started Mavis, causing Ace to stop momentarily. "Only now do you address me by my name, prior to this moment you had been calling me by my title. Why is this so?"

Ace tilted his hat and looked skywards, a handful of clouds seemingly blending in to the blue sky. "I mentioned the story of how I battled against the pirate warlord Jimbei, many months prior I had actually been offered a position to become a warlord myself but refused. This was half due to the fact that I didn't want to be considered working for a governing body, but also due to that with a title comes an expectation, but people come to know you simply by your title out of respect. Calling somebody with a title solely by their name, I feel brings a sense of understanding between the two."

"There is much more to you than how you are first perceived, I predict great things to come from you being a part of the guild," said Mavis with a smile.

"Once again thanks and I'll see you at the tournament, one way or another," said Ace as he casually saluted the petite girl with two of his fingers, causing Mavis to giggle slightly as they parted their separate ways. However, just before Ace left the narrow alleyway, he heard Mavis' voice cry out from behind him.

"I should warn you that your speed training starts now."

Turning his head, Ace saw no sign of the first master of Fairy Tail but when he faced forwards once more he found himself within close proximity of two men wearing matching blue uniforms. "Is there a problem?" asked Ace, curious as to what these two men were after.

"If you come with us sir, we can take you somewhere you can be with other people like yourself," said one of the men calmly.

"Wait, what group of people?" asked Ace.

"He doesn't even seem to realise that he was talking to an empty alleyway for the past few minutes," said the second man to his comrade, Ace's hearing however picking up on the message.

"Come on sir, there's no need to be frightened, we can help you," said the first man.

"As much as I appreciate you offering to help, I don't really need it," said Ace starting to back away as the two men approached him. Without giving them time to respond, Ace twisted on his back heel and took off as fast as he could, that split second helping him gain an early lead on the two pursuers. Cursing, Ace sprinted down the alleyway, realising that for some reason only he had been able to see Mavis, and hence somebody had called in officials believing that he was crazy. A small smile caressed his lips as he turned a corner, realising the irony of the situation if he decided to defend himself since the truth was that he had been talking to a person only he could see.

...

Two months had passed since the encounter with Mavis, two months of solid training and speed building. The night after meeting with the first master, Ace had broken down what he had wanted to improve on with both Jet and Droy, creating a routine for the three to do every morning and evening with Ace working on his elemental abilities during the afternoons. Now however he found himself atop the snowy mountain that Mavis had pointed out for him. While snow fell heavily around him he felt immune to the cold, his powers over fire keeping him warm despite the frosty conditions. Moving further up the mountainside, he knew that the first thing he would need to find was a place to sleep during the nights. It didn't take him long to find a cave and he made his way inside, flames dancing off his fingertips illuminating the depths. However, it also alerted many of the caves inhabitants of his presence, almost all of which started charging towards where he stood.

"Home sweet home," he commented as he braced himself for the fight that was about to occur.

...

**Hope you enjoyed.**

**On a side note, the reason I brought Mavis into the equation is due to her appearance in the fourth OVA. If you don't know what I'm talking about, go watch it.**

**Insaneblain: I think this is due to the fact that it's possibly the easiest part to enter a character into the story, where it doesn't overly affect the greater flow of time.**

**Ja Ne**


	21. Chapter 21

**Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece or Fairy Tail**

**...**

Jet and Droy casually walked down the beach, missing their temporary sparring partner in Ace. He had been gone for over two weeks now, far past the length of time he was meant to have spent upon the mountaintop. Yet neither of the two members of Team Shadow Gear dared search the summit for Ace, knowing that the temperature would be almost unbearable, let alone having to search while vicious creatures attempted to feast upon your body.

"Hey, is that..." started Droy pointing towards the foreshore. Jet followed his line of sight and his eyes went wide with excitement as he recognised the members of the guild who had vanished for nearly three months.

"Everyone, we got tired of waiting for you," said Jet as he and Droy ran close to where the nine guild members stood.

"The Grand Magic Games are only five days away," Droy told them. "I bet you guys have been training your hearts out." Both Jet and Droy had expected Natsu to respond boisterously, exclaiming how much stronger they had gotten over time. When none of the guild members spoke up however, they got slightly worried.

"It's over," said Erza, her voice calm and collected before she Natsu and Gray collapsed into the sand beneath them. Wendy soon followed suit, dropping to her knees and started crying.

"Give us back our time!" shouted Lucy, screaming to the heavens above.

"What...what did we just miss?" asked Jet of his partner who looked equally confused of the situation at hand.

...

Ace walked casually down the side of the mountain, running his fingers through his hair. Atop the summit, the population of the natural wildlife had dwindled dramatically, Ace having managed to feed his inhuman hunger on more than one occasion. That however was the positive side to his venture.

Ace's ears perked up as he heard the sound of screaming coming from nearby. Altering his course, he started sprinting towards the faint sound, skidding across the steep slope on a rough patch of ground but managing to regain his footing before anything bad had happened. As he got closer, more voices chorused the fears that coursed through his body as multiple people cried out in agony.

Bursting into a clearing, Ace managed to find a small house hidden within the trees near the beach which he quickly barged in to, therein he found his fellow Fairy Tail guild members laid across the ground, red markings adorning their bodies. "Wendy!" shouted Ace as he spotted the young blue haired girl, his concern immediately falling towards the youngest member of the group.

"Don't worry," said Erza calmly standing nearby, watching over her comrades protectively.

"Don't worry, my friends are being tortured and you tell me not to worry," said Ace riling up a bit.

"They are undergoing a powerful strengthening magic to help boost the magical abilities," explained Erza which made Ace calm down a bit.

"If you're all undergoing this torment, I trust that your training in the spirit world didn't go smoothly," said the former pirate.

"I'd...rather not go into it," said Erza avoiding eye contact. "How about you, Wendy asked Jet and Droy where you had gone to and they said you'd gone on a solo voyage up the mountain. Did you manage to get much training done?"

"To an extent," said Ace, his voice lacking the usual enthusiasm Erza was used to. Erza opted not to pry Ace for details as she turned her attention back towards her fellow guild members.

"When everyone is able to move again, we're heading straight back to the guild," she explained. "Jet and Droy explained that they got a message from Master a couple of days ago explaining that everybody was to return in order for the guild to select who would represent Fairy Tail in the tournament."

"Do you know when everyone will be ready?" asked Ace.

"I was told that everyone will be at full capacity come mid morning tomorrow," answered the sword mistress.

"Well I'll be catching the earlier ride," said Ace sparking Erza's attention. "I need to tell Makarov something beforehand."

"Very well," said Erza, slightly irked that the fire-man had called the leader of their guild by his first name rather than by his title.

"Tell everyone that I'll meet them back at the guild," said Ace as he turned back towards the door, the moon glowing over the water's edge. Erza bade him no farewell as he walked out of the room, no words needing to be spoken as she turned her attention back towards the members of the guild who were screaming out in pain. Outside, Ace walked across the beach feeling the sand as it seeped in-between his toes. His mind went back to the moment before they had ventured out on their training quest, back to whatever it was the Luffy was about to blurt out. He knew that there was an unspoken plan going on within the competition, he figured that the idea had originated from either Nami or Robin as he guessed that Luffy's sole and only plan was to charge headstrong and forget about the other rules. With his mind deep within the clouds, he headed back to the hotel where the guild members had been staying at and started to look forward to a decent sleep where he didn't have to fear being attacked in the middle of the night.

...

"THE FIRST MASTER MET WITH YOU!" exclaimed Makarov loudly, Ace quickly checking over his shoulder to ensure that nobody burst into the secure location. Knowing that Makarov was likely to react extravagantly, he had first taken Makarov to the vegetable garden outside. Considering a good number of the guild members were either indoors or still returning from their training trips.

"Keep it down will you," said Ace after ensuring the coast was clear.

"I must say, this is highly unexpected, I didn't even know that the first had the ability to leave Tenroujima," said Makarov calming himself. "I must say though, it must have been something very important if she felt the need to come and tell you personally."

"Mavis gave me advice on what I should do to try and improve myself before the tournament," explained Ace to which Makarov took a serious expression.

"If the first wishes you to be in the tournament then so be it, I can't go against her words," said Makarov sounding duty bound.

"No, that wasn't what she wanted," said Ace to which Makarov looked at him, waiting for a continuation. "She directed me to spend nine days up in the cold to try and work out how to unlock my other power at will."

At this Makarov's eyes went wide. "How did your training go?" he asked.

"I spent sixteen days up there and while at some stages I believed that I almost had a grasp on it, I still can't control it," said Ace keeping calm, despite having spent hours upon hours of being attacked by vicious creatures trying to knock them out with his willpower alone. "I know this is something that people from my world took years to control, but I still feel disappointed in myself."

"Don't feel too bad Ace," said Makarov reassuringly. "I can imagine how a power like that would take years to access, let alone master."

"But still..."

"Calm yourself Ace, I had already decided on the teams before you arrived," said Makarov now peaking Ace's interest. "Had you been able to control this latent ability I would have had to rethink the battle plan but as it is, I was not going to have you on the team."

"Let me guess, you were either going to choose me or Natsu, only one fire mage," concluded Ace.

"Well there's three reasons for it," said Makarov scratching the back of his head. "The first is that if Natsu wasn't chosen he would complain about it to no regards. The second is that if there is a teamwork based challenge, I want people who know each other's strengths and weaknesses to be there for one another. Finally, there's this," he concluded as he pulled a letter out of his back pocket, holding it towards Ace. Curiously, Ace took the letter and started to read the contents.

"So that's what's going on," he said with a cheeky smile.

"If it's any consolation, I've selected you to be the sixth member of the squad."

"So I'm the reserve member...better than nothing I guess," he said as he waved the letter in front of Makarov's face. "You know there's only going to be one conclusion to how this turns out if these guys don't see me on the battlefield."

"Hence why you're the reserve member. Anyways, I think I see the rest of your group walking towards the guild," said Makarov as he peered at the front walkway. "Just between you and me, let's keep this knowledge of the first master leaving the island our little secret."

"Done," said Ace as he turned towards where the others were arriving, intent on keeping a couple little secrets until the time was right.

...

"Ace-san, I don't know if Master was right in choosing me," said Wendy after it having been announced that she would be competing in the tournament.

"Hey, keep your chin up," said Ace comfortingly. "You should be proud that Makarov holds you in such high regard."

"But still, someone like you would be a much better person to compete," she said with small tears forming in her eyes, slowly becoming frightened of the task at hand.

"Put it in this perspective; if there was a team competition and you and Lucy were competing and someone managed to land a blow on Lucy that she struggled to recover from, who would be the better person to be partnered with, myself who can't help her recover and will be fighting my own fight, or you who would be able to heal her midway through battle and be able to fight at the same time?"

Ace's words seemed to have done the trick as Wendy's eyes glowed with praise as she felt her self confidence rise dramatically. "Oi Ace," shouted Natsu as he walked over to where his fellow Dragon Slayer and former pirate sat in conversation. "Do you know where that brother of yours is?"

"No idea, we'll see them soon I guess," said Ace hiding a cheeky smirk from the fire mage.

"Hmm, I really wanted to test my abilities against somebody like that before the tournament," said a defeated Natsu.

"You just want to fight him since he fought Master, right Natsu-san?" guessed Wendy, receiving a cheeky confident grin as a response.

"What can I say, it'll be a good fight," said Natsu confidently. Ace wondered however just how confident Natsu would be when facing Luffy, recalling the fight that his brother had had against Makarov. He easily remembered Luffy calling out the attack, 'Gear Third' when he had increased the size of his arm to gigantic proportions. If that was the third gear, it was pretty obvious to assume that there was a second gear and possibly even a forth dependent on the level of training done over the course of the three months. In all honesty, it was hard for Ace to predict just what level of skill Luffy would have achieved by this stage, having recalled that Luffy had told him that he had defeated not only one but two warlords of the sea.

"Ace-san, you coming?" asked Wendy as she tugged on Ace's shirt, breaking him out of his thought process. "We're heading to Crocus now, it's going to take us a few days to get there."

"A few days of transportation!" exclaimed Natsu, not looking forward to the journey.

"Let's go have ourselves a little fun," said Ace looking forward to the contests at hand.

...

"All aboard, train to Crocus leaves in five minutes!" shouted the conductor over the bustle of the people boarding the train. All around, people were purchasing tickets and finding a seat on the train for the long journey ahead, many of them looking forward to the spectacle which would be happening within a few days time.

"C'mon Wendy, he's probably already on the train," said Lucy trying to encourage the blue haired girl to join the rest of their guild members aboard the express.

"I haven't seen him get on," said Wendy in a worried tone.

"Trust me, this is Ace we're talking about, he'll be fine," said Lucy reassuringly. Begrudgingly Wendy got onto the train as the whistle blew a final time before leaving the station. As hours went by and the crowds started to dissipate, one man wielding a knife on his belt could be seen sleeping on a nearby wooden bench.

...

"Sir, are you alright?" asked a constructor as he shook Ace's shoulder.

"Wait, what?" muttered Ace as he woke from his snooze.

"You've been asleep for hours, people were starting to get worried about you," stated the constructor.

"Hours...crap, did I miss the train to Crocus?" asked Ace already knowing the answer.

"The last train to Crocus today leaves in ten minutes, if you hurry you can go purchase a ticket," instructed the constructor.

"Much obliged," said Ace as he shot up and sprinted towards the ticket booth. Several minutes passed before he got onto the train, weaving his way through numerous passengers. He was thankful that nobody had decided on stealing his gear he had been carrying in his rucksack while he had slept. Opening up room after room, he asked numerous patrons whether there was room for another person yet no matter how often he tried all of the rooms was full. Coming to the last room in the carriage, he opened it up hoping that the guests inside would be able to make room for him. Looking at the guests inside, a smile spread across his face as he immediately recognised the paying customers.

"Excuse me, you reckon there's room for one more in here?" asked Ace at the four clients, along with five wooden dolls.

"Ace?" questioned Bickslow, the dolls surrounding him repeating the name several times.

"We were informed that you had departed on an earlier train," said Freed in a calculated tone.

"I got sidetracked," said Ace sheepishly.

"Well I guess you can stay but only if you recognise me as the queen of all fairies!" proclaimed Evergreen, holding her fan in front of her face.

"Denied," said Ace in a deadpanned voice, shocking Evergreen slightly.

"He can stay," said Laxus in a commanding tone. Both of the members of Fairy Tail glared at one another, recalling their brief alliance against Master Hades back on Tenroujima, each of them wondering how much the others strength had increased since that time. For the longest of moments the two merely looked back and forth at one another until the train whistle blew and the vehicle began to move at which moment, Laxus began to grow pale in the cheeks as he dropped to his knees, his motion sickness already starting to get the better of him.

"I call top bunk," said Ace as he chucked his rucksack atop one of the bunk beds.

"You cretin, that bed has already been claimed by Laxus," said Freed outraged that the team leaders bed had been confiscated in such a manner.

"Well if he tells me he wants it within the next ten seconds I'll gladly sleep on the floor," bargained Ace as Laxus looked up at him, trying to speak up but not finding the strength to do so as the train began to pick up speed. "I think I'm going to enjoy this ride," he said cheekily as Bickslow stuck out his tongue, looking forward to spending time with the former pirate.

...

**Hope you enjoyed.**

**Rin: Fixed it**

**99 luffy: Sadly though I can't guarantee fast updates due to the fact that I do not have a computer of my own at this stage. The one I am using at the moment is temporarily on loan so the next update could be weeks away.**

**Ken Fullbody: If you re-read the chapter, you'll notice that Mavis told Ace that it would be pointless to start learning magic from Macao as their abilities are of a different calibre.**

**Peace out.**


	22. Chapter 22

**Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece or Fairy Tail**

**...**

"Those present within these runes, shall not get travel sickness!" commanded Freed as he wrote the last of the runes upon the wall of the cabin. As soon as the spell was cast, Laxus' felt his pain vanish in an instant. Freed had taken nearly a whole hour to write out the runes, the bumpiness of the journey having caused him to pause on more than one occasion in order to make sure that everything was written out perfectly.

"Thank you," said Laxus with appreciation as he took his prior stance next to the wall, as if nothing had happened.

"So this is something you have to do every trip?" asked Ace as he rested atop his bunk.

"It's a...necessity," said Laxus as he looked out the window at the scenery outside.

"I know that Natsu gets motion sickness because he's a Dragon Slayer, would I be wrong stating that you're the same or is it just some random illness?" asked Ace almost already knowing the answer.

"Dragon Slayer, Dragon Slayer," chanted Bickslow's wooden dolls which caused a slight look of disgust to cross Laxus' face.

"Figured," said Ace as he turned his attention back to the roof he had previously been staring at.

"You dare look down to Laxus because of the ability he possesses?" questioned Freed in a threatening tone.

"If you can't tell, I'm looking up," said Ace nonchalantly.

"Why you..."

"Enough!" said Laxus with a contained force radiating through his voice. "Freed can you construct some runes so that I can get a decent sleep over the next couple of days."

"You mean that you're not going to claim your bunk back, I will gladly give you mine if it is sufficient for your needs," suggested Freed but Laxus merely shook his head.

"I'm sure you'll be able to conjure up something for me," said Laxus. He turned his attention up to the bunk where Ace was, only for him to repeatedly hit with Evergreen's fan.

"How dare you not give Laxus' bunk back to him," stated Evergreen as she continued to swing her fan at Ace who didn't even bother blocking the weapon.

"Give him a break Evergreen," said Bickslow who was lying in his bunk opposite where Ace lay. "Stop treating him like Elfman." From his position, Ace swore that he saw a venomous glint cross past Evergreen's eyes.

"I take it your training went well Ace," stated Laxus, turning his vision towards the former pirate.

"Like with anything, it could have gone better," replied Ace, not bothering to look at Laxus.

"If it's any consultation, if I got paired up with anybody in a battle in the tournament, you'd be the last one I'd want to face," said Laxus.

"Laxus, you give him too much credit," said Freed but Laxus held up his hand silencing his comrade.

"A battle between lightning and fire, two of the most ferocious magical elements and unlike Natsu, you actually think battles through instead of charging in head first. I don't doubt who the eventual winner would be, but know that it would be one of the highlights of the tournament."

"A little overconfident are we," said Ace as he turned over slightly, a single eye gazing down at the Lightning Dragon Slayer.

"He has every right to be confident," said Bickslow, his spirits repeating the word 'confident' over and over again. "I reckon me and my babies could take you on as well!" Ace didn't respond in words however as several small globes of light emitted from his palm and surrounded one of Bickslow's dolls before igniting, incinerating the spirit container in an instant. "You're lucky I brought spares," muttered Bickslow as he opened his bag, revealing a fresh doll that floated out and joined its companions.

"You should be grateful to know that my quarrel lies not with you, but with Erza in seeing who is worthy of being dubbed Queen of the Fairies!" declared Evergreen.

"Oh, and I suppose you consider the newest members of no competition to your title, especially when one is able to create limbs from your body and bind without you having a second to react?" questioned Ace.

Before Evergreen could respond, a chuckle escaped Laxus' mouth. "He's got you Ever, seems like you're going to have to step up your game even more so," he said with a toothy grin. "Now, if you three wouldn't mind, I wish to have a word with Ace alone."

"As you command," stated Freed as he paused midway through writing a single rune before opening the door to the carriage. Bickslow had no complaints as he stepped outside, his wooden dolls following him all the while. Meanwhile Ever however had a scowl on her face as she realised that she would likely need to rethink future strategies in order to obtain the title she so desperately wanted. With the door clicking into place, Ace rolled from his bunk through the air before landing gracefully on his feet before twisting his glance to look at Laxus.

"So, what's so private that you want to talk about?" asked Ace as he leant against the wall, crossing his arms in front of his torso.

"I felt that it should be right, for me to tell you what I have noticed in my few days as a member of the guild," said Laxus, causing Ace to glare slightly. "Gramps, a number of the guild members who went to Tenroujima, and your pirate buddies trust you, completely. The other members of the guild however, are sceptical, fearful even. Power, something you contain a great deal of, is also a burden."

"Just get to the point," said Ace in annoyance.

"I recognise the fear in their eyes, it's the same fear as when they once looked at me," said Laxus, shame clinging to his voice. "I had power and only craved more for my own selfish ego. If I never had power of such magnitude, I question if I would have turned out any differently."

"You sought power, I sought freedom," said Ace boldly. "I come from a world where you either govern or be governed. Our justice system is much more cruel than the magic council you have here. A single toe out of line could spell months of interrogation because it is believed that you carry information that could help expand the government's empire. They would even slaughter dozens of pregnant women, just because they believe they carry one man's child!"

The last part of Ace's statement was almost shouted to the point where the people in the next door carriage looked over their shoulder in worry. Laxus however quickly picked up on what Ace had left out of his story. "The child was you, wasn't it."

With a single hand, Ace took the hat off his head and tossed it onto the bunk he had previously been resting upon. Running his hands through his hair, he questioned upon whether to reveal secrets buried so deep within him that only another one person in the world knew. "If it's any consolation," said Laxus, "Know that you're not the only one who's had a father cause pain and suffering. My father, once a member of Fairy Tail, broke the trust of everybody within the guild when he took off with information that could lead to Fairy Tail's destruction should he pursue it further. I understand that it is a hard thing to come to terms with but sometimes speaking these things can help."

"My..." started Ace, pausing for a second, "My father was infamous back on the Grand Line, the most famous pirate who ever lived. As soon as I discovered I was his child, I questioned upon whether or not my own life was worth living. Hatred, isolation and violence was all I knew growing up as I distanced myself from the people around me."

"So what changed, what made you who you are today?"

"Luffy came into my life," said Ace with a genuine smile.

"I want to help you here, because I believe that in years to come you will be a great mage of Fairy Tail," said Laxus. "Talking to others, I've heard about the secondary magic you contain, an ability to make people lose consciousness with not a single incantation, something which seemingly you've only used in times of extreme stress."

"You really are well informed," said Ace to which Laxus responded with a simple shrug.

"It's amazing what you can discover by simply talking to people. Anyways, power like that sometimes is not governed by physical or magical ability, but rather mental. Whether it's self confidence, acceptance or something else entirely, if you can overcome mental strain your power is able to become that much greater. My arrogance weighed me down and after realising that I'm not invincible, I was able to become stronger not only for myself, but also for the guild," concluded Laxus.

"You've given me a lot to think about," said Ace as he gazed out the window, noting that the sun had long since set since the start of their journey. "Think I'm going to call it quits for the night but I should leave you with one comment."

"And that would be?"

"I shouldn't be the one you should fear the most in the competition," said Ace smirking without Laxus seeing.

"Oh, and who do you believe I should be afraid of?" asked Laxus.

"Luffy, because rubber doesn't conduct lightning," said Ace as he leapt onto his bunk, seeing the smile drop from Laxus' face before he closed his eyes intent on getting a decent sleep.

...

Days and nights seemed to roll into one another before the train arrived at its final destination. Over the course of the trip, Ace had both entertained and been entertained by stories, small magical feats and other amusing time wasters. "Well, guess I'll be seeing you guys later," said Ace as he looked at the crowded station, Laxus and the Thunder God Tribe standing next to him.

"Apparently you need to be at your accommodation before midnight tonight, the reason though I not yet know," said Freed.

"Guess we'll find out shortly," said Ace noting on a nearby clock that there were only two hours before the allocated time. "I best be off and try and find somebody who can help me find my accommodation," said Ace before he walked off, waving over his shoulder as he carried a single backpack in his other hand.

Ace had never truly been a big fan of crowds, mostly due to the fact that many of them had sought the bounty upon his head, but everybody he saw was cheerful about the upcoming festival. Walking through street, after street, he desperately searched for a fellow member of Fairy Tail who could point him in the right direction. Turning down a nearly empty corner, he sighed in annoyance as he realised he must have left the central business district several streets back. Seeing that there were only two visible people on this street, he thought it best to ask for directions considering the worst response would simply be that they didn't know.

"Hey you two," he called out, catching up to the two men before they entered a large building.

"Oh look, we have a fan," said the blonde haired one with an amused smirk as Ace stopped running as he succeeded in gaining the necessary ground. "Sorry but we don't do autographs."

"Trust me, not interested," said Ace waving it off.

"How could somebody like you not want the awesome Sting-kun's autograph?" questioned a small brown cat standing nearby with a fellow cat...dressed in a frog outfit.

"Frosch thinks so too," said the other cat, whose name was apparently Forsch or so Ace figured.

"Two talking cats...that would make the two of you Dragon Slayers then," said Ace looking hardly impressed at the development.

"State your business," claimed the black haired Dragon Slayer.

"I'm just looking for the accommodation for Fairy Tail, can you help?" asked Ace.

"A member of Fairy Tail, asking the twin dragons of Sabertooth for directions, this is just classic," said the blonde haired man as he struggled to contain a laugh.

"Keep going in that general direction," said the other man without a hint of enthusiasm in his voice as he pointed off towards a nearby section of the town. "I do not know the precise location but I believe that it is down that way."

"Cheers," said Ace but before he could run off the blonde haired dragon slayer stuck out his hand.

"No hard feelings," he said, hiding a vicious intent.

"None whatsoever," said Ace as he took the hand, momentarily before the dragon slayer tried to crush the digits in Ace's hand with strength alone. Ace glanced at the grip his hand was in, hardly feeling anything from the Sabertooth Guild member's grasp yet if he wanted to play this kind of game, he was more than happy to as he channelled fiery heat into his palm.

...

"Dammit, I have no idea where I am," said Ace as he looked at his surroundings. He had followed the Dragon Slayer's directions but reckoned that he must have taken a wrong turn somewhere along the line and now he was utterly lost. He had decided to just head to the tallest building and work his way from there. Yet within the grounds of the castle, his gaze shifted momentarily as he noticed a small blue haired girl unconscious on the ground with a white cat next to her.

"Wendy!" he shouted as he dropped his pack, rushing to the girl's aid. Holding her in his arms, he was glad to find that she was still breathing but her heartbeat was weak and he knew that he needed to get her to a doctor quick smart. It would be at that moment however, when midnight struck and the night truly began.

...

**Hope you enjoyed.**

**Zaru: From your statement it seems that the only way for Ace's character to develop is through loss when in all actuality it is developed through every event that he encounters. The strawhats impact has been minimal thus far, their actions and reason for being there yet to be seen. As for bringing the strawhats over being the one thing that makes crossovers fail, you should know that I never follow conventional rules but rather forge my own path and see what occurs.**

**One Piece Fan: You're pretty quick to declare that they're going to win, which might not be the case.**

**Orchamus: It took Luffy two years to master his level of Haki to the point where he can use it freely, you'd have to think that there would be little chance for Ace to master it in such a short amount of time.**

**Phonke: Trust me, there's a lot of other ways to put Luffy on even grounds with Ace**

**Note that I won't have access to a computer for anywhere between now and several months, so don't expect an update soon. Sorry.**

**Peace Out.**


	23. Chapter 23

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail or One Piece**

**...**

The spectacle which amazed thousands came and went but Ace paid little attention as he sat by Wendy's side, the young girl still unconscious from her encounter. Ace's fist clenched as he wished that he had managed to get there earlier and help Wendy, knowing that he could have done something to help the young blue haired girl. Despite his tendency to fall asleep at the most unpredictable times, he had managed to keep his attention completely on the girl in front of him, not for a second thinking of dozing off in case her attackers returned.

"Wendy!" shouted Natsu as he slammed the door open, the rest of the guild members who had participated through the labyrinth with him. Ace turned his head to look at the on comers and noted one particular character he didn't think would be there.

"Elfman, Lisanna," he said as he noted the two extra members of the guild who were with the usual crew.

"Where was she?" asked Natsu, worried about the safety of Wendy.

"I found her near some hedges late last night," explained Ace.

"Wait, do you mean to tell me that you've stayed up all night long by her side?" asked Erza, noticing the bags that hung underneath Ace's eyes, the lack of sleep clearly written on his face.

"Nothing I can't handle," said Ace brushing it off, knowing he just needed to get his adrenaline pumping and he would be good for the day. Before anybody else could utter anything, a small moan escaped Wendy's lips causing all attention to fall onto the young girl.

"Wendy!" exclaimed Natsu in a hushed voice.

"Ace-san," said Wendy as she opened her eyes and saw the former pirate sitting in front of her.

"Easy now, don't stress yourself," said Ace as he brushed a strand of hair out of her face.

"Do you remember what happened?" asked Natsu.

"Sorry, I can't remember anything," said Wendy slowly the frailness in her voice highly evident.

"It seems she has magic deficiency disease," said an aged voice from the doorway, Ace turning his head towards the sound and seeing an elderly woman he had never laid eyes on before.

"Porlyusica –san," said Lucy recognising the elderly woman.

"What are you doing here?" asked Lisanna as Porlyusica walked forward to the side of the bed.

"Something wrong with cheering on the guild?" asked the white haired woman, making Lisanna stiffen in fright of one of the eldest members of Fairy Tail. Seeing Lisanna's fright, a comforting smile spread across Porlyusica's face. "You don't need to be that nervous around me. I'm not going to eat you up."

"Well now that we've established that, what are you doing here?" asked Ace wondering why this woman was here. Under normal circumstances he knew that he would treat an elder with a higher regard of respect, with the situation as it was however he didn't really care about the air that he gave.

"You must be Ace," she summarised, looking at the black haired youth. "As to answer your question I heard what has happened with Wendy and it made me worried, so here I am." Realising that she was here for the right reasons, the tension released slightly from Ace's body, thankful that it seemed that Porylusica was here for the right reasons. "If I may."

"By all means," said Ace as he stood up and got out of the way, allowing the white haired elder to kneel next to Wendy to get a better idea of the situation.

"Just before, you said she had magic deficiency disease," said Erza.

"Yes," replied Porylusica. "Magic deficiency disease is when the sudden loss of a great magical power causes all of the muscles to weaken. If she's allowed to rest for a while, she will recover."

"What happened?" asked Gray, speaking up for the first time.

"I don't remember it clearly," said Wendy, struggling to keep her eyes open. "There was some kind of black animal." Having said what she remembered only triggered horrific nightmares to play out in her memory and she squealed slightly before turning away from the rest of the group, tears forming in her eyes as she began to whimper quietly. "I'm sorry, everyone."

"Don't be, you were ambushed, there was nothing you could do," said Ace trying to get Wendy's line of thinking away from the negative.

"It's just, after all the training I did, I can't compete in the games," she said through jiggered breathes, holding herself back from bursting into tears. "Ace-san, please compete in my place."

There was silence momentarily and Elfman looked like he wanted to dispute the call but remained silent. "It would be my honour," said Ace, Natsu patting him on the back as a sign of 'welcome to the team.'

"Okay, everyone leave," said Porylusica with an air of authority. "She needs her rest now."

"Let's go," said Gray as he lead everybody out the door.

"The only thing we can do right now is compete in the games," said Erza as she followed the rest of the group. The last to leave the room was Ace, the man of fire turning in the doorway and gazed into the eyes of the elderly woman.

"I leave her in your care," he said with a smile.

"Get out!" exclaimed Porylusica grabbing a nearby broom and swinging it at Ace before closing the door in his face. Ace stood there in stunned silence momentarily before giving a light chuckle, knowing that Wendy was now probably in better hands than his. Turning around to join the rest of the group, he found his path blocked by Elfman, the muscular man standing directly in his way.

"Can I help you?" asked Ace wondering what the muscular man was after.

"I may have been the one to take Wendy's place to get our team entered in the labyrinth," said Elfman, his voice resounding with pride. "I would request that I take her place instead of you, but I couldn't call myself a 'man' if I didn't do as she wished."

"Don't worry," said Ace as he slapped Elfman's shoulder playfully. "When we're the number one guild, you can boast about how you would have been a better man than me on the battlefield."

"Will do," said Elfman with a chuckle. "Now go out there and show them how much of a man you are!" Ace didn't need to be told a second time as he ran off to join the rest of the group, leaving Elfman standing in the corridor, the gentle giant smiling all the while.

...

Dressed in matching purple outfits, the five selected members of Fairy Tail stood in a tunnel beneath the arena, the sun's light just piercing the edge of the tunnel giving a surreal feel to the situation. Outside, they could hear the anticipated crowd talking and making noise that seemed to echo around them. The crowd outside was silenced momentarily as they could hear the commentators make their opening statement but it was difficult to clearly hear what was being said.

"So we ready to do this?" asked Ace, having found his second wind.

"For Wendy," said Lucy.

"For Fairy Tail," said Erza.

"I'm all fired up," said Natsu, his fists blazing.

"Alright, let's go," said Gray as the five stepped forward as one, their footsteps in perfect synchronicity as they covered the distance to the entrance in less than twenty seconds. With every passing moment, the commentators voice became clearer and clearer.

"...the players are about to take the field," the commentator Chapati Rola said, his voice resounding over the speaker system. "Starting with the eighth ranked team! Can they recapture their past glory? The guild whose name clashes with their rowdiness, Fairy Tail!"

Leading the way, Natsu raised his fist with pride at the name of the guild being called but was completely shocked as the crowd around them didn't greet them with a cheering ovation but rather the complete opposite as jeers and 'boos' rained down upon them. "What!" exclaimed Natsu in shock.

"C'mon, who doesn't love a good underdog story," said Ace, slapping his fellow fire wielder on the back.

"Fairy Tail has come in last place every year but this year they managed to make it through the elimination round," said Chapati. "That being said they are still the eighth ranked team. Will the Tenrou bunch that created a sensation with their homecoming regain the title of Fiore's number one?"

"Don't let it get you down," Erza said to Lucy, noticing the other female on the team was getting slightly depressed over the constant hassle.

"I'm just glad they're back," said Yajima, the other commentator for the tournament giving the group below the thumbs up in appreciation.

"What do you know, at least we got one person on our side," said Ace noticing the commentator in the stands.

"That's not all," said Gray noticing a rather large group who had joined in on cheering on the five man squad with the banner of Fairy Tail raised high above their heads.

"Hooray, hooray, hooray, Fairy Tail!" shouted Makarov at the top of his lungs, the rest of the guild barracking beside him at their chosen representatives. Focusing on the group, Ace could make out the bulky form of Elfman, the Take Over mage giving the thumbs up as a signal that he was happy with the turn of events.

"We've got the support of our comrades, that's all that counts," said Erza with a smile.

"What the heck is that?" asked Natsu as he eyed one particular person in the crowd, Gray noticing as well making his jaw gape slightly.

"I don't believe it," said Lucy as she saw what her teammates were looking at.

"Hooray, hooray, Fairy Tail," said Mavis as the first guild leader dangled her legs over the concrete railing, the rest of the guild looking at the spirit in shock. As both the former and current master had a chat up in the stands, Natsu broke out into laughter.

"It's encouraging having the first master rooting for us," he said with a broad smile.

"Alright, let's move on to the team that finished seventh, the hounds of hell, Quatro Cerberus!"

"Wild Four!" shouted all the selected members of the guild as they marched onto the arena floor

"Wild Four?" repeated Ace wondering what the hell they were talking about. The only logical reference he could think of considering their name was that they were referring to Cerberus, the guardian of the underworld. That being said, the gatekeeper of hell had only three heads so where the term 'four' came from he had no clue.

"In sixth place, the all female guild, the dancing girls of the great deep, Mermaid Heel!" announced Chapati as five women walked onto the field.

"Hello ladies," said Ace as he tweaked his collar, only to receive a metallic slap to the back of the head courtesy of Erza. "What I do?" His only reply was a disappointing shake of the head.

"In fifth place, the goddess of love and war, the holy destroyer, Lamia Scale!" the announcer shouted as the wizards stepped forward, coming close to where Fairy Tail stood due to the long standing relationship the two guilds had. Yet just as they were drawing to a close, a young pink haired girl tripped on a rock and fell face first into the dirt. Bantering went back and forth between Gray and Leon but Ace paid it no attention as he eyed the young girl introduced as Chelia, recalling how when Wendy had first come running after him she had done the exact same thing.

"Next up, finishing fourth in the elimination round, oh my, this comes as a surprise," said Chapati as he looked at the notes in front of him. "The first appearance by this guild in the tournament and they managed to get to fourth place. The midnight mobile force, Raven Tail!"

At the announcement of the name of the entering guild, all of the members of Fairy Tail turned their attention to the five people walking ever closer. "Raven Tail!" exclaimed Natsu.

"That's the guild that master's son created," said Erza recalling what had happened a number of years prior.

"According to the official record," said Chapati as he looked over his notes once more. "Raven Tail has been around for more than seven years but they've only recently been recognised as a legitimate guild."

"Recognized by the Guild Federation," added Yajima, "and not as a dark guild, right?"

"Fairy Tail," said a man dressed in golden armour, not an inch of skin showing as he and the rest of the former dark guild stood opposite the members of Fairy Tail. "That girl was just by way of greeting." Next to the man in the golden armour, another member of the guild wearing a long nosed blue masked had a small brown creature on his shoulder whose head transformed into that of Wendy's.

"You guys did that to Wendy!" exclaimed Natsu clenching his fist tightly. "I'll get your for that."

"Let's enjoy the festival," said the frontline of Raven Tail.

"Hold it," said Ace getting the members of Raven Tail's attention. Even though Natsu had radiated an aura of hatred it was nothing compared to the venomous glare that Ace was giving. "If any of you meet me on the battlefield, know that for what you have done your life is forfeit." A couple of the guild members had the nerve to chuckle at Ace for his statement, believing that a member of what was once such a highly regarded guild even knew how to make such a bold claim. Up in the stands though, the master of Raven Tail watched on intrigued by the development, insure of who the fifth member for Fairy Tail down on the field was. It mattered little though, he knew that anybody who stood in the way of his plans would be crushed one way or another.

"Alright, there are still three guilds remaining that made it through the elimination round," announced Chapati.

"Logic says that two of the guilds are that of Blue Pegasus and Sabertooth, both having been central competitors in years gone by," said Yajima over the sound system.

"You should never look down on Blue Pegasus," announced Jenny, the special guest commentator of the day and also a member of the Blue Pegasus guild.

"The third place finished, oh and this is a shocker!" shouted Chapati. "Will they become the soaring key with their battered wings? The unbelievable, improbable Fairy Tail B team!" While the crowd tried to comprehend with the fact that there were two Fairy Tail teams, Ace chuckled at the sight of Laxus standing opposite him, the confrontation with Raven Tail having been pushed to the back of his mind. Next to him stood Juvia, Mirajane, Gajeel and a man completely covered in black rags.

"What's Mystogan doing here?" asked Natsu pointing at the previously unnamed member of the squad.

"Don't tell me you're...Jellal," said Erza softly as to not rouse the suspicion of any of the other guilds. Her response came in the form of Jellal lifting a finger to his lips as a sign for them to stay quiet on the situation, something that Gray and Natsu struggled to do right off the bat.

"Juvia," sighed Lyon as he looked at the blue haired woman with adoration, Chelia by her side getting slightly huffed over the scenario.

"Well it looks like a lot of people are up in arms over a revision of the rules this year Yajima-san," said Chapati to his fellow announcer over the speaker system.

"This year, each team was permitted to enter two teams into the tournament," replied Yajima, the elderly man's words clearing up a few minds. While Lucy shouted at Makarov trying to understand why none of them had been told about this beforehand, Ace thought over the rules mentioned about how only two teams were permitted from each guild. If it had been three his mind would have been at ease, now however it was a different story.

Up in the commentators booth all three speakers rambled about how having two teams in a tournament was both a help and a hindrance at the same time, Natsu charged over to the second Fairy Tail team. "We may be in the same guild, but I go all out in a showdown an' show no mercy!" Natsu declared. "You guys are competing as a different team so I see you as the enemy. I ain't gonna lose against you bastards!"

"You took the words right out of my mouth," said Gajeel as he stood toe to toe with his fellow Dragon Slayer.

"With two more teams to announce, this is a real shock to announce the second placed team, the champions of years gone by have been bested my a single guild in the labyrinth but I present to you all, last year's champions, Sabertooth!" shouted Chapati the crowd going wild for their favourite team. Yet as they marched onto the field, it was clear that they were disappointed with their second place entry and the crowd reacted in such a way as well, wondering who had topped the champions at their own event.

"Oi, Sting," said Ace getting the attention of the blonde Dragon Slayer. "How's the hand?"

"Bastard," muttered Sting under his breath, the rest of the guild members curious as to what Ace had meant with his statement. Underneath his elbow length glove, Sting's hand was bandaged several times and covered in ointment but he refused to let anybody know what Ace had done to him the prior night.

"Blue Pegasus came first!" squealed Jenny rooting for her own guild over the microphone.

"Actually it's not so," said Chapati causing a stunned silence to go over the crowd. All around people began muttering about how one of the prior favourites to perform well in the tournament hadn't even made it through the elimination round. "Once more it just goes to show that the Grand Magic Games are so highly unpredictable. Not only is it the first time this guild is entering the tournament but the guild was only created three months ago! Ladies and Gentlemen, I present to you the unknown variant, the strongest force of the sea, the Strawhat Pirates!"

For the members of Fairy Tail, they couldn't believe their ears and eyes as they watched five people walk towards them, all of them walking with strong purposeful strides. "Blue Pegasus, wasn't that the guild that flirted with Nami-swan in the labyrinth?" questioned Sanji as he pulled the cigarette from his lips.

"I'm just glad we got through in one piece," said Usopp, his large slingshot strapped to his back.

"Hey we were always going to make it through with my navigation," said Nami as she pulled on Usopp's cheek in irritation.

"Doesn't matter, we just made it to the fun part of the round," said Zoro as the swordsman eyed off the competition.

"Oi Ace, we made it!" shouted Luffy as he waved to his brother who chuckled at the sight of the rubber boy.

"Did you guys just create your own guild so you could compete in the event?" asked Erza as the members of the Strawhats came to a stop nearby.

"Pretty much!" said Luffy with a broad smile, not noticing the dangerous glares that were being thrown their way by the members of Sabertooth.

"All of the guilds have taken to the stage but what are your impressions Yajima-san?" asked Chapati from up in the stands.

"I envy their youth!" declared Yajima confusing Chapati slightly before the elderly part of the commentary continued. "With so much young blood on the field, it is difficult to determine who has the advantage, especially with so many unknown guilds having made it through the elimination."

"Well put Yajima-san," said Chapati. "It's time for me to announce the program of the Grand Magic Games!" As he spoke a large stone tablet emerged from the ground, the writing on it visible for all to see, yet there really wasn't much to see as a number of events had been replaced by question mark after question mark.

"So there's a competition and a battle every day," analysed Gray.

"Battle," said Zoro having listened in to the ice mage, a smirk spreading across his lips.

"For the competition part of the day, each team can select one of their members to take part," announced Chapati. "For the battle part the result of fan votes will contribute to the sponsors deciding on what battles will take place."

"What?" questioned Erza.

"They can decide on the match-up's however they want," said Gray slightly annoyed by the fact.

"That means if you're unlucky you could compete in both the competition part and the battle part right afterwards," said Lucy.

"The rules for the battle part are simple," said Chapati. "The teams face off against one another with the winning team receiving ten points while the losing team receive none. In the case of a tie both teams will receive five points. Now it is time for the opening game of the Grand Magic Games! Let's begin Hidden!"

"Hidden," repeated Lucy.

"One person from each team will compete," explained Chapati. "I'll explain the rules of the game after all of the competitors have been chosen."

"I'm competing!" shouted Luffy, eager to get onto the field as quickly as possible.

"We're really going to regret this," said Nami as she rubbed her eyes with her forefinger and thumb.

"He's made up his mind, no changing it now," said Sanji with a smirk.

"Go get 'em Luffy!" said Usopp confidently.

As team after team selected their competitor, Erza looked towards Ace. "Do you want to be in this round?" she asked.

"Nah, one of you guys can do it," said Ace brushing it off.

"What, don't you want to compete against your brother?" asked Natsu.

"It's the first day of the tournament, there'll be other chances," said Ace. "Besides I might take the opportunity to get some shut eye before the battle part in case I get called out."

"In that case I'm going to compete," said Gray as he noticed his rival in Lyon had been selected to represent Lamia Scale.

"If Gray-sama is going to be in it, then so is Juvia!" declared the water woman quickly followed up by a warning from Gajeel about how Juvia shouldn't lose on purpose under any circumstances.

"All the participating players from the eight teams are set," said Chapati. "And now for the rules of the opening game, 'Hidden.' We're finally ready to begin, I wonder what kind of contest it'll be? Yajima-san, is there anyone in particular we should look out for?"

"Well we all know Rufus-kun is a force to be reckoned with," said Yajima. "However I'm going to be keeping an eye on Gray-kun."

"How about you Jenny-san?" asked Chapati.

"If Blue Pegasus had made it through I'd be rooting for them," said Jenny with a sigh. "That being said, we must keep an eye on Luffy, any team that can top Sabertooth at anything is something we must watch out for."

"Hey look, a pumpkin!" exclaimed Luffy as he and the other contestants made their way to where the pumpkin was standing.

"Is there something wrong with me being a pumpkin?" it asked.

"The pumpkin talked!" shouted Luffy in shock and amazement.

"He's new to the area," said Gray trying to calm down the situation although he couldn't help but be surprised by the ring manager.

"We still haven't been informed on what kind of contest we're going to be participating in today," said Nalpudding, the representative of Raven Tail. "Regardless, having two guild mates competing from Fairy Tail has a huge advantage right?"

"That's just how it goes," said the pumpkin. "The fact that of the hundred plus guilds to enter the labyrinth, for two of the same guild to make it through is nothing short of amazing."

"I'm fine with it," said Rufus, the member representative of Sabertooth."I guarantee that having two of you compete will not be advantageous."

"Hurry up and start the game already!" shouted Luffy getting impatient.

"Field open!" said the pumpkin as he summoned the battlefield. From out of the ground a city developed right in front of the faces of the competitors yet before they even realised it they were split up and separated from one another.

"Where'd everyone go?" asked Luffy looking around wildly.

"The eight participating competitors don't know the whereabouts of one another," announced Chapati for both the crowd's knowledge and for the people in the middle of the makeshift city. "The rules of 'Hidden' are simple. All of you will be 'it' and be looking for each other mutually. When you find one another in the city all you need to do, using any magic at your disposal, is land a single hit. If contact is made, a point is added to the attacker and taken from the victim. The amount of damage dealt doesn't matter."

"Oh, Luffy should do alright in this," said Nami knowing that when Luffy was serious it was hard to find anybody who could match him in speed. All around the competitors, images began to fade in and out of existence before features became more distinguished, making them all look like identical clones of the original eight competitors.

"What the hell is going on here?" shouted Gray in confusion.

"Hey it's me," said Luffy as he pointed at a clone. "Wait, that can't be me because I'm me unless I'm not me...this is hurting my head!"

"These are copies of all of you," stated Chapati. "If you attack a copy by mistake you lose a point. And now, vanish into stillness, stalk like black cats under the shroud of night."

"So many Gray-samas," said Juvia as hearts popped out of her eyes before she grabbed onto a nearby clone. It didn't take long however for a resounding sound echoed around her before she was mildly electrocuted as a score was subtracted from her tally.

"This is not going to be easy for Juvia," said Mirajane as Juvia found herself transported to a different side of the arena.

"Dammit, one of you have to be real," said Luffy as he looked at everybody around him.

"What's Luffy planning?" Usopp asked of his nakama.

"Luffy and planning are two words that should never be put in the same sentence," said Sanji.

"Gomu Gomu no..."

"This can't end well," said Zoro as he recognised the move, one of the first that Luffy had mastered.

"Gatling!" shouted Luffy as he threw a flurry of punches at the clones around him. By the time he was teleported to the other side of the field, his tally stood at negative thirty seven. While most watched on in horror as Luffy completely destroyed the reputation that the Strawhats had created by coming in first through the labyrinth, Ace couldn't help but laugh and chuckle about how some things never change.

...

**Hope you enjoyed.**


	24. Chapter 24

**Disclaimer: I do not own Fairy Tail or One Piece**

**...**

Minutes ticked by in the competition as scores went up and down depending on the skill of the competitor. Gray and Juvia still struggled to get a positive reading on the scoreboard, their bad starts making it difficult for either of them to make much ground on their opponents. Yet their scores combined didn't even scratch the surface of how badly Luffy was doing, his tally threatening to drop further if he didn't turn things around anytime soon, having continued to attack clones one after the other.

"All these guys look alike," he complained as he took a moment to readjust himself, placing his chin in his hand as he struggled to come up with an idea to counter the clones. Unlike when he had fought Mr 3 in Little Garden, the copies surrounding him were moving along the streets instead of remaining motionless. The training he had gone through didn't entirely help him with the situation he was in as while he had had Robin giving him the knowledge he couldn't utilise it in a position like this.

"I found you!" shouted the member of Quatro Cerberus, Yaeger, as he got close enough to utilise his magic. As he charged his spell, he saw Luffy take an interesting stance and push his legs into the ground and Yeager found it slightly disturbing that the boy's muscles seemed to compress and stretch in an awkward fashion. Quickly realising that he needed to finish his attack, he sent his magic forward, a plant bursting from underneath the cobblestones where Luffy stood, only for the teen to vanish before the attack could hit. "What?" questioned Yaeger but before he could come up with a solution he found a fist buried into his cheek, knocking him into the nearby wall and having a point deducted from his score.

"And with that thunderous punch, Luffy gets his first positive score of the match, lifting his total to negative forty two!" shouted Chapati. "His attack was lightning fast, I barely could see him move."

"It would seem as if Luffy-kun has decided to take this seriously now," commented Yajima.

"What's that steam coming off of his body?" asked Jenny but none of the commentators truly had an answer for her.

"Maybe I should just keep letting them attack me," said Luffy thinking that it was the perfect strategy, a grin lining his features as the concept of this competition being a timed event vanished from his mind.

From up in the stands, Nico Robin sat alongside the Chopper, Brooke and Franky in the stands only a small section away from where Fairy Tail was located. Being the eldest and undoubtedly the most level headed amongst the crew she had taken the role as the guild leader. This of course had been fought against by Luffy until she had informed him that the leader of the guild was forbidden from actually competing in the tournament, a fact he understood right away as he withdrew his nomination immediately. Yet as taking the role as the leader she had taught everybody as best as she could, mostly providing them with information on how fight against magic users. While Sanji and Zoro had taken her advice quickly, Luffy was the hardest to get to understand and thus she had spent the most time with him.

Knowing his lineage, Robin had assumed that Luffy had the potential to unlock traits of both his father and his grandfather and sought teaching him these things as if it was a game. She had contemplated doing traditional training methods but had practically thrown that idea out of the window when she quickly recalled just who it was that she would be training. While the first week of training had been slow, he had progressed in a positive way as she reminded him that he would have to find some way to defeat Ace.

At first Luffy believed that he would have no problem fighting the person who had eaten the Mera Mera no Mi, Robin told him just how she believed that the strength that Ace possessed was potentially enough to rival Aokiji back on the Grand Line. When Luffy realised just what the level of strength that his brother was at, he had become focused in a way that she had never seen before. Yet here on the battlefield, while it wasn't showing at the moment, she knew the time would come for his abilities to be fully tested. Whether or not he was strong enough to take out Ace was yet to be seen, part of her knew however that there would come a time in the tournament where the two brothers would compete against one another, it was almost as if they were fated.

Back within the game of 'Hidden,' one competitor decided that they had had enough of the game and stood atop the highest point in the competition. "This contest is too simple," said Rufus as his perfect memory was able to pick up the slightest of details surrounding all of the competitors to the point where he could pinpoint their location without a second thought. "Memory Make: Into a Night of Falling Stars!"

With his spell cast, seven bolts of light burst forward from where he stood, several of which crashed down upon their targets quickly raising his score from the zero that it had been on to five in a single attack, making his score tied with Nalpudding of Raven Tail. Said member of the competition had been one of two that had managed to evade the attack and immediately went on the attack, leaping up and striking directly at the member of Sabertooth only for his strike to go through a fake. With a single strike, Rufus hit Nalpudding head on and put his score two in front of everybody else. Yet as he looked over the scenario, even with his memory he couldn't pinpoint the location of the other competitor to avoid his attack.

"Gomu Gomu no..."

Hearing the sound of an attack coming from above, Rufus shifted slightly, having already memorised that all of Luffy's attacks up to this point in the competition were pinpoint accurate strikes. Looking up however to give himself the best time to come up with a counterattack, he went wide as he carved something into his memory that he never wished to see again.

"Giganto Pistol!" concluded Luffy as his attack hit home, the giant fist crashing down upon Rufus and shattering the building he had been standing upon. All around the people in the stands couldn't even mutter a word in shock as Luffy's score ticked back towards a positive reading once more. Rufus' body was teleported to another part of the arena but it was obvious that he would not be competing anytime soon, his body barely twitched as he lay in unconsciousness, his body bruised and broken.

"Good one Luffy," muttered Ace as murmurs started appearing over the grandstand.

"What monstrous strength!" shouted Chapati as he resumed his job as a commentator. "With only his second positive hit, Luffy shows that his strength knows no bounds, obliterating a part of the battleground as well as taking out one of Sabertooth's strongest members."

"I dare say there are few within this contest that could tackle strength like that and come out unscathed," said Yajima with a sly smile across his face. Jenny was still speechless as she come to realise that if her team had come across Luffy in the labyrinth, let alone the rest of his team, a strike of similar proportions would have decimated them.

"Yet it would seem his charge has come too late as the completion has come to its conclusion," said Chapati as the buildings began to dematerialise, revealing all of the competitors scathed and damaged, minus Luffy who hadn't taken a single strike the entire day. "At the end of the first round of the tournament, Sabertooth gains ten points but may have lost a valuable member in doing so."

"No kidding," said Yaeger as he watched as medics tended to the down Rufus, realising that despite the attack that Luffy had struck him with had dealt a solid amount of damage it was nothing compared to what the rubber teen could actually do.

"In second place is Raven Tail, gaining eight points," continued Chapati. "After them comes Lamia Scale with six points followed by Mermaid Heel with four points. Coming in fifth was Quatro Cerberus who award themselves three points. After that it is Fairy Tail B then A, earning two points and one point respectively. In last however was the first time competitors of the Straw Hats who despite finishing in first in the labyrinth came last in the first event of the day."

"Oi it was hard!" shouted Luffy as he figured out what Chapati was saying.

"You did good Luffy," said Gray with a smile. "Despite coming last you showed them that you are one of the strongest people here."

"I guess so," said Luffy with a chuckle.

Despite the smile that Gray was putting on, he was internally devastated by the result of the competition. Unlike Luffy who seemingly didn't care about the result, Gray knew that he had failed in his team's quest to regain Fairy Tail to the number one ranking guild in Fiore. He could imagine that if Luffy hadn't done what he had done and put the crowd into shock, he and Juvia would be receiving jeers from the crowd. While he wouldn't take it personally, when they had shouted out earlier how Fairy Tail was washed up he had felt outrage like he never had before. Making his way out of the sight of the crowd alongside the rest of the contestants, he hung behind before driving his fist into the wall, his knuckles nearly breaking from the amount of force he had used. In his mind he had two clear targets that he needed to take out. The first would be difficult, considering that Luffy might have removed that potential enemy from the entirety of the tournament. The other however, he prayed that he could get his hands on them. "Raven Tail," he cursed through grinding teeth.

"Dude, I think your brother killed that guy," said Natsu to Ace from up in the stands.

"I wouldn't put it past him," said Ace whose smile hadn't left his face ever since Luffy had kicked it into gear. "I still need to ask him whether or not he killed anyone back home."

"The way you said that so casually is really scary," complained Lucy from nearby.

"Sorry," replied Ace but it was clear that he wasn't sincere about it.

"First round of the battle portion of the tournament is about to begin," announced Chapati. "These battles are decided based on the fans votes and the tally is in for the first round. Straight off the bat it seems that Kagura Mikazuchi is the first competitor to be chosen from Mermaid Heel."

"With Kagura as their opponent, nobody stands a chance," said Risley proudly, knowing the strength of the strongest mage of their guild.

"And their opponent is a member of the team we just saw decimate a member of Sabertooth, from the Straw Hats, Roronoa Zoro!"

"This oughta be good," commented Zoro as he started making his way to the arena.

"Marimo, if you hurt Kagura-chan I'll kick your ass," threatened Sanji but the comment went relatively unnoticed by the swordsman.

"Zoro, there's money on the line so win or I'll triple your debt!" threatened Nami, once again Zoro paid no real attention to this threat; his debt was well beyond saving as it was. All he cared about at the moment was getting a good challenge and as his feet touched the sand of the arena he embraced the chance to show his stuff.

"Kagura is known as one of the strongest mages in Mermaid Heel wielding her sword Archenemy," announced Chapati. "Zoro however is an unknown character at this point yet like Kagura he wields swords but carries three as opposed to one. Yajima, what are your thoughts on this battle?"

"It seems highly improbable that Zoro can wield three swords at a single time, my guess would be that each sword contains a different magical property to be used in different situations," stated Yajima, not really answering the question. Thankfully for him the other member of the commentary box decided to take the reins.

"After having watched Kagura before, I have to say that it would be difficult for her to be beaten and even though her opponent is from the Straw Hats I have to tip Kagura to win," answered Jenny.

"Needless to say, I believe we'll see an outstanding battle between these two competitors," said Chapati as both Kagura and Zoro came to a stop several feet away from one another.

"Guess we're up first," said Zoro to his opponent.

"So it seems," replied Kagura, eyeing off the green haired man cautiously.

"Since we're going to be setting the standard, let's give these people a worthy show," said Zoro as he put his hand on the hilt of Sandai Kitetsu, opting to use the cursed blade to start with.

"Begin!" shouted a man nearby as he smashed a gong, the sound resounding across the stadium signalling for the two of them to begin the contest. For several seconds nothing happened, as if the two swordsman were merely gauging one another's abilities. Then in a single moment, the battle truly begun.

...

**Hope you enjoyed**

**Most of you were probably expecting the Flare v Lucy fight to be the first one to pop up but I figured to go along a different path.**

**Guest: Nami would be interesting but unlike the other two she can't change her clothes via magic, so she'd literally need to strip down in front of an entire stadium in order to change her clothes. On that logic, I'd have to say no Mira v Nami**

**Symbolic Joker: I don't write chapters to a specific length, I have a Point A and the chapter ends when I get to Point B, whatever's in between creates the bulk of the chapter.**

**With Blue Pegasus being out of the competition, I need to rewrite a vast majority of the battles considering that all of them were picked by popularity voting. With one guild being replaced, it effectively means that every other match gets rewritten. While I need to keep some for obvious reasons, give me some suggestions for fights that you'd like to see written out.**

**Peace**


	25. Chapter 25

**Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece or Fairy Tail**

**...**

"Shishi Sonson!" shouted Zoro as he struck like a flash, appearing behind Kagura with his katana once again in its sheath. To those who had watched the quick strike t had been almost instantaneous but to those whose eyes were attuned to fights of such magnitude they had seen Zoro's sword get pulled out as he charged forward before striking then putting the katana back within the sheath. To Erza she could quickly understand the reasoning for such a thing, knowing that the style he was using predominantly focused around the unsheathing of the blade which when practised long enough could be the fastest strike in their arsenal. Kagura however had been quick enough to lift up her sword and block the attack yet while it hadn't cut her she could feel the wind pressure behind the attack.

Looking over her shoulder, Kagura looked at her opponent who was likewise looking over his shoulder at her. She was well aware that that wasn't the best the green haired swordsman had to offer, that was merely an opening strike to test her reflexes. Had she been half a second slower the blade would have sliced across her chest and would have had her on the back foot. Yet there was much more to it she feared.

Magical blades when they cut someone did so in a way that it would be non-lethal, that was just the way that they were manufactured. Very few magical swords actually had the power to take the life of another person, the damage being more internal than anything. She knew that her own blade would take a single life during the time she wielded it, but the blade that Zoro had used was something else entirely. It wasn't magical, that much she could tell. Had she been hit by that attack she wouldn't just be lying on the ground unconscious, with that blade it would be in a pool of her own blood as she slowly died in front of everybody. This wasn't a spectacle of some kind, this was a man who had fought to the death on more than one occasion.

For the split second that Zoro had unsheathed the blade, Kagura had felt an ominous presence around it, such as like how people were able to sense the magical power of somebody powerful. This power she felt however was dark, as if the blade was cursed with black magic. Turning around, she got into her stance, knowing that a single slip up in this fight could cost her her life.

Deciding to take on the offensive, Kagura charged forward and swung the sheathed Archenemy at Zoro who pulled two of his katana out of their respective sheaths and blocked the attack. "What an explosive start to the battle!" shouted Chapati but neither of the two combatants truly listened to what he was saying as they started exchanging blows with one another, the sound of metal ringing across metal ringing across the arena.

Erza watched from the stand as the two swordsman below exchanged blow after blow, neither of them getting past their opponent's defence. Between the two of them she couldn't tell who would have the final strike, neither of them backing down from one another in what could only be described as a war. It didn't matter who else fought today, the battle that these two were having would undoubtedly be the highlight of the day.

Leaping back from the confrontation, Kagura knew that she needed to find some way to turn this battle more advantageous for her. Delving into her resources, she triggered her magical ability and the effects became instantaneous.

From his position, Zoro felt as if his weight had been multiplied rapidly as a heavy pressure was placed on his body. Turning his attention back to Kagura, he saw that she had leapt into the air, Archenemy poised to strike. "Strong Form," she said coldly as she prepared to attack.

Even with gravity being multiplied and pushed against him, the green haired swordsman managed to lift two katana up to block the attack but much like how Kagura had felt the pressure from his attack before, he could feel the pressure behind her strike as the ground around him exploded in a shower of debris and dust. In between the midst of the unseen battlefield, Kagura lashed out at Zoro with his foot and caught him across the cheek with enough force to send him careening out of the dust cloud. Skidding across the floor, Zoro got to his feet with Wadou Ichimonji unsheathed and raised above his head.

"Sanjuroku pound hou!" shouted Zoro as he swung the katana in a circular motion. Sensing the oncoming danger, Kagura leapt out of the debris before the attack penetrated the dust cloud before continuing onwards and hitting the wall of the arena, carving a large slash into the concrete.

"What extraordinary magical power!" shouted Chapati getting more excited with the match second by second.

"It seems that the strength of the Straw Hats isn't limited to Luffy," said Jenny who was just as amazed as her fellow commentator.

Yajima however was being silent on the topic, watching the fight intently. Undoubtedly he had become interested in the Straw Hats and looked forward to seeing what they could produce over the next few days. However there was something that he couldn't quite understand with them and he couldn't quite put his finger on it. Having just watched the one attack that Zoro had unleashed, it didn't look like he had sent a magical attack forward in that slashing moment, but rather the strength that he possessed had allowed his slash to actually continue in a flight path. He wasn't too sure of the specific details but there was one thing he was slowly becoming more confident of, that the swordsman in front of him wasn't using magic.

"You are indeed skilled," said Kagura as she eyed her opponent cautiously.

"Likewise," said Zoro as he placed the blunt edge of Wadou on his shoulder, resting it there casually. Even though the flight had been rather explosive from the get go neither of the two combatants had truly taken any damage. "I'd wish you'd stop holding back though, I can't truly get serious if somebody isn't facing me with everything they've got."

Visibly it could be seen that Zoro had struck a nerve with swords mistress, it was common for opponents to speak down to their opposition and when they had done so to Kagura they had soon suffered for their actions. This time however, Kagura knew that unless she gave it everything that she had she would be unable to defeat the green haired swordsman in front of her. Yet that meant that she would need to unsheathe Archenemy, something she had sworn not to do until she faced that opponent.

Becoming slowly enraged, Kagura charged forward, quickly closing the gap between them. However, this allowed Zoro enough time to take out both of his other katanas which forced Kagura to come to a stop. The theory that every sword held a different property had gone out the window some time ago but as she watched Zoro place the white hilted sword in his mouth, she knew that he was starting to get serious. That in turn meant that she needed to give it as much as she could.

Once more the gravity around Zoro began to weigh down on him yet to most who would crumble under the pressure, Zoro stood there without moving an inch, as if the gravity had no true effect on him. Kagura used this as her chance and charged forth, intending on finishing the fight with a single blow.

"Tatsu Maki!" shouted Zoro despite the sword being held in his mouth as he twisted on the spot. The crowd watched in awe as a Kagura was blasted into the air, several slashes appearing across her body and arms yet she didn't seem overly effected by it. Directly over Zoro, she once more changed gravity yet this time it wasn't on her target below her but rather on herself, multiplying the force of gravity tenfold.

Kagura plummeted towards the ground at an unseen pace, rocketing forward with enough force to break the floor of the stadium had she hit the ground. Yet Zoro had stood his ground and with all three swords had managed to block the downward strike. Twisting to the side, Zoro pushed Kagura to the side but was unprepared as he felt the hilt of the sheathed sword slam into the bridge of his nose, blood bursting forth in a red shower.

If Kagura thought this would give her an advantage she was sadly mistaken as Zoro seemed to only grin at the damage. Both combatants charged forward and the sound of metal clanging on metal echoed across the battleground as Kagura desperately tried to break through the impressive defence that Zoro provided with the trio of blades that he wielded. At this pace, she didn't doubt that there would be a second chance if she got struck even once with his counter attacks.

In a single split of a second, Kagura spotted her opportunity as all three blades came careening towards her torso. Dropping down so she was almost parallel to the ground, the katana soared over the top of her before she swung directly upwards, her unsheathed sword slashing at Zoro's midsection.

The crowd watched in awe as time seemed to stand still, Kagura's attack having cleaved through the shirt the swordsman had been wearing and also cutting lightly across his skin. Yet with the perfect opportunity to follow up she was unable to do so as her eyes went wide in shock and horror. With his midriff exposed she could see the massive scar that stretched from the top right of his torso to the bottom left. It wasn't a light scar either, a wound half this size should have been enough to kill a normal man yet whether from luck or sheer determination he had managed to survive such an attack. If Kagura was unsure of it before she was well aware of it now; this man was not a magician, he was a warrior.

Leaping away to gain some distance between her and Zoro, her reprieve was short lived as the green haired swordsman sent another flying attack at her, this time though it was with three katana instead of one. As she leapt out of the way Erza felt her fist clench tightly, multiple thoughts going through her head. Predominantly the largest one being that when she had duelled Zoro several months earlier, despite the fact that she had not been permitted to change armour while he had restricted himself to a single katana, it was clear that he had merely been toying with her. While she had contemplated about it before in passing thoughts she knew that he had been holding back against her, to this extent however was seemingly ridiculous. Had she truly been this weak without her armour advantages, or was her opponent simply that much more skilled than her?

Meanwhile down on the battlefield, Kagura had decided that no matter how much strength she put into her attacks she was unlikely going to be able to overpower Zoro. Changing her stance, she focused her magic once again as her 'Gravity' magic went to play. Unlike the other times when she had used this however, this time the gravity around Zoro was negated, the green haired swordsman finding himself floating in midair.

Not giving him time to collect his bearings, Kagura leapt forward much faster than she had before, appearing behind Zoro in a flash. For those whose eyesight had been quick enough, they could see that the member of Mermaid Heel had attacked six times in a single instant. Yet at the same time they were able to see that Zoro had used the two katana in his hands to block every attack. One attack however went unseen by most, but Kagura could feel it now however as she placed her hand on her stomach, pulling her palm back to see her skin stained with crimson blood.

'_He blocked every attack with the two katana in his hands and then struck out with the one in his mouth," _analysed Erza, having been one of the few people to have seen the entire act play out. Even though he had been a member of their guild and had helped Fairy Tail back from the brink, it angered her to know that his strength was seemingly unmatched. She questioned whether or not there was anybody in the guild who could compete against him in physical strength alone.

"Guess this is what I get for not having gone serious from the start," said Kagura as she turned to face Zoro.

"You did enough," said Zoro as he removed the sword from his mouth a moment before the gong rang out, signalling that the match had concluded in a draw.

"The match is over!" shouted Chapati from the commentator box. "The best from Mermaid Heel has fought to a stalemate with Roronoa Zoro of the Straw Hats!"

"The wound isn't too deep," said Zoro as he walked past Kagura nonchalantly. "If we fight again don't hold back."

Kagura took those words in stride as medics quickly rushed the field, wanting to make sure that the ace of Mermaid Heel wasn't too badly injured (they'd already had enough fun trying to put Rufus back together). She didn't like having to withhold her strength and coming into this tournament she had thought her only one on one competition would have been Jura. After that fight though, she couldn't help just what the rest of the Straw Hats could bring to the table.

Part of her question was answered as Zoro looked up from where he was standing and had to dodge the incoming kick from Sanji. "Marimo, why'd you have to hurt Kagura-chan so much?" questioned Sanji as he lashed out with his right boot.

"Baka this was a contest and I didn't hurt her too much!" shouted Zoro in reply as he slashed out at the chef who ducked underneath the blow.

"Oi why you two fighting each other!" shouted Usopp from the stands while Luffy laughed away at it all.

"It seems that Sanji from the Straw Hats has taken some offence to something that Zoro did in the fight," commented Chapati. "The two of them are fighting with one another with enough ferocity that could tame the mightiest of beasts."

"It just goes to show that not everyone in a guild can coincide with one another perfectly," added Yajima.

"While we would love to see these two fight it out we have to clear the arena for the next match," said Chapati. As the next two battles raged on, even though they were impressive to watch they were nothing in comparison to the battle of the swordsman that had taken place. Lucy had lost in a battle against Flare although in a way which seemed to anger a number of people and left others in a state of confusion. Meanwhile the other fight had been a complete whitewash with Orga of Sabretooth obliterating his opponent in a single move.

The final match had been much more entertaining having pitted Jura of Lamia Scale against 'Mystogan' of Fairy Tail B. While it had been the most explosive match by far, the fact that Mystogan had seemingly had a mental break down in the middle of the match and had passed out after having survived several of Jura's more devastating attacks.

"And so the first day of the Grand Magic Games comes to an end!" shouted Chapati as the action ceased in the arena. "Coming in first is Sabretooth with a perfect twenty points to start the competition! Following them is Raven Tail with eighteen points. In third is Lamia Scale with sixteen points. After their battle which concluded in a draw, Mermaid Heel is in fourth place with nine points. Having leap frogged their way off the bottom, the Straw Hats are now in fifth place with five points, meaning that Quatro Cerberus has dropped to sixth with only three points to their name. Fighting it out for the wooden spoon for the moment are both the teams from Fairy Tail, with Fairy Tail B besting their guild mates by a single point, two points to one. Undoubtedly though it has been an explosive day at the Grand Magic Games and we undoubtedly await for the rest of the tournament to take place. We hope that you can join us tomorrow."

"Ja Ne," said Jenny as cutely as she could, knowing that that would be her last time in the commentator's box.

Yajima made no final comment as he stepped away from the announce table. Of the three of them he had been the one to speak up the least in the three remaining fights. While Sabretooth's win had been predictable and Fairy Tail's losses to a point, the way in which both of Fairy Tail's defeats had come about had immediately got his attention to outside interference. It was undoubtedly clear that Lucy's match had been tampered with at the ending, her spell having been wiped clean of the battlefield in an instant. Magic like that didn't simply disperse and while it had fooled most of the people in the stadium he was wiser about such a thing. He would be speaking with Makarov about this, hopefully the Master of Fairy Tail would provide him with some answers.

"Lucy!" exclaimed Natsu as the member of Fairy Tail made her way back to the balcony where the rest of her team was standing. "Are you alright?"

"All good now," said Lucy solemnly, clearly still upset with her loss.

Ace remained somewhat silent, looking to see whether or not Lucy would open up to them without them needing to tear away at her for some answers. Unsurprisingly she opted to shift the attention away from herself and to the scoreboard that hung above the battleground. "Don't worry about it Lucy, I'll compete tomorrow and I'll turn it all around!" declared Natsu boldly which seemed to put a smile on everybody's faces.

In the infirmary however it was a different story as Charle sat up from her slumber, shaking as her latest prophecy seemed to appear. There wasn't much to go by off however and she couldn't truly tell whether it was merely a nightmare or something much worse. Fragments of it were much clearer than others yet none of these visions were pleasant.

A white knight.

A Giant Magic Circle.

Mercurius, the palace collapsing.

Lucy, singing with tears running down her face.

A Straw Hat torn in two.

...

**Hope you enjoyed.**

**For those who put in suggestions, thank you for your effort and if I see them as being...entertaining, they shall be done.**

**Peace.**


	26. Chapter 26

**Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece or Fairy Tail**

**...**

After such a dismal day participating in the competition, most would think that the members of both Fairy Tail and the Straw Hats would have been disappointed with their efforts and be sulking in silence. Of course these people would never have met either of these guilds in person.

The bartender had not had such roaring business in a long time as the two guilds drank and ate their fill as if they had already won the competition. That being said it was rare to see two guilds being so cheerful with one another, especially during the tournament where a single slip up could be the difference between victory and defeat.

"I'm up tomorrow!" Natsu proclaimed boastfully. "I'll turn things round for us!"

"If the Salamander's going to be in the game then maybe I'll join in too," said Gajeel from the bar, eager to show that he was better than his long time rival in any sort of competition.

"Yosh, I want to participate again!" shouted Luffy only to be slapped over the back of the head by Nami.

"Baka, you practically destroyed our chances of winning already, I'm not letting you compete again so soon!" shouted Nami, her mind solely set on the money.

"Also, as per the rules and regulations set within the first tournament, a wizard may not compete in two neighbouring events," said Robin as she took a sip from her drink. "In other words you won't be able to compete again in the events until the third day. However Captain-kun, wouldn't it be unfair if your crew was left out of the competition because you wanted to show off."

"I'll just show everyone that I'm the strongest in the battles then!" shouted Luffy.

"If I don't end up facing you I'm going to call the whole thing fixed," said Ace as he rubbed his brother's hair. "I mean you can imagine it happening, on the last day of the tourney it will come down to two brothers brawling for the title."

"Sounds like a good story," said Levy with a smile.

"Yea but I'm going to win no matter what," declared Luffy.

"Well that's one battle I'm looking forward to," said Gray as both he and Lucy entered the bar.

"Are you alright Lu-chan?" asked Levy.

"If it still hurts I can treat you," said Chopper from nearby, always ready to tend to any patients.

"I'm totally fine," said Lucy but it was clear that she truly didn't mean it. None could blame her however, having lost in front of an entire audience was one thing but to be humiliated and laughed at for her magic seemingly 'disappearing' was another thing altogether. Nobody called her on this though and just took her words as proof.

"Well I guess since you guys have selected your competitors for tomorrow I guess it's only right that we do to," said Robin with a smile.

"Eeehhhh," cried Nami. "Shouldn't we wait until we see what the competition is first and choose the best person for the job?"

"Even if we did wait, the only clue we get for the competition beforehand is the name and as we learnt with 'Hidden' it's hardly an indication of the actual event at all," declared Robin. "Therefore choosing our combatant now is hardly an advantage or disadvantage at all."

Nami huffed as she couldn't disagree with what Robin was saying. It was clear by her mood though that she wouldn't be the one competition in whatever event played out tomorrow. Somebody else was very vocal in the fact that they didn't want to compete but went about it in a completely different way.

"Oh no, my chronic 'if I compete tomorrow I'll die,' disease is acting up," said Usopp as he clutched at his chest feigning injury.

"I'll treat it right away!" declared Chopper as he rushed up to the team's sniper.

"That sounds serious," said Natsu as he too got sucked into the lie that Usopp had spun.

"Wendy can heal him!" shouted Happy.

"She's still resting," said Ace in a voice that only just carried the distance between himself and Happy. Before having come to the bar to be with everybody else he had gone to the medical wing where Wendy was located and had spent a solid two hours with the young girl. She had been sleeping as Porylusica went about mixing medicines and Ace simply sat in silence. Part of him couldn't help but feel responsible for what had happened to the blue haired girl. He couldn't help but think that if he had actually caught the right train then he would have been there to prevent this from happening to Wendy.

"Well then," shouted Makarov as he leapt on top of a table, his small stature carefully cradling the drink in his hand before he lifted the mug skywards. "Today's defeat is the seed for tomorrow's victory. Let's rise up, cause we don't know the meaning of the words 'give up!' Let's aim for number one in Fiore!"

His words were met with a ferocious applause as the members of the guild cheerfully took Makarov's words to heart. From outside the tavern, Jellal sat upon a nearby wall still dressed in his disguise. Having been scolded by Ultear he didn't truly wish to join in the festivities. He knew that he had gotten too absorbed in the competition and realised he should have simply aimed for the draw like Zoro had instead of chasing glory and the high chance of breaking his cover.

It was foolish also as he now realised that if he had cast his spell then the person he was tracking would undoubtedly have discovered that they were being tailed and possibly have fled. His head picked up as he felt something. He couldn't quite tell what it was or if it was truly what he was looking for but it felt menacing one way or another. Needless to say this was the biggest lead he had gotten so far and even if it didn't feel like Zeref's magic he couldn't help himself as he leapt down from his position and started running down the street towards the magical presence he felt.

Meanwhile back in the bar Natsu stood triumphantly over Max as many pondered just how strong the dragon slayer had gotten over the three month period. "Yohohoho, I feel like playing my song of glory but I feel like it would be premature," said Brooke as he sipped at the glass of milk the bartender had given him.

"Couldn't hurt," said Franky as he chugged down a bottle of cola.

"Franky-san," said Brooke getting the shipwright's full attention. "Even though we are not in the tournament, we never truly decided on a reserved fighter in the case that either Usopp-kun or Nami-san became unable to compete." Needless to say he didn't feel as if he needed to list the possibility of either Zoro, Sanji or Luffy giving up on competing; such a thing seemed more impossible than improbable.

"Well it clearly couldn't be you, I think the rules clearly state that you have to be alive to compete," said Franky with a smirk.

"I am very much alive thank you," said Brooke getting slightly frustrated. "Anyways, since your body is so heavily modified, the officials would refuse to allow somebody who was part machine to compete."

"So long as we don't show them that I'm part machine there shouldn't be any problem," said Franky. "Face it Brooke, I'm going to be the reserved member because I'm SUUUUUUPER!"

"No, it shall be I who fights alongside Luffy-kun!" shouted Brooke as he got to his face, staring Franky eye to...eyehole.

"While it is quite enjoyable to watch the two of you squabble, I feel like I should end this bickering before you two get into a fight of some kind and end up costing our guild precious funds," said Robin as she broke up the two members of the Straw Hats.

"Ah Robin-san, you're going to say that I'm the reserved member right," said Brooke confidently.

"Please, the reserved member has to be someone Super like me," declared Franky pointing his thumb at his chest.

"Actually it's Chopper," said Robin passively, enjoying the entertainment value as both Franky and Brooke's jaws dropped several inches to the point where Brooke's jaw nearly dropped off entirely.

As this was going on Laxus was warning Gajeel that brawling with Natsu inside the pub would be foolhardy. For his efforts the Iron Dragon Slayer patted his blonde counterpart on top of the head much to the dismay of Freed who tried to summon the rest of the Thunder God Tribe to his side to aid him in defending Laxus' honour. Sadly for him however both Evergreen and Bickslow had found themselves in quite a predicament as they found themselves in a drinking contest against Cana. Despite having been drinking all day there was little that could deter the card mage from drinking even more. Even when a random person came and sat down beside her she didn't sway from her drinking. Unfortunately this was one opponent she couldn't beat.

After multiple shots, Cana dropped to the floor as many of the guild members gasped in shock from the fact that Cana of all people had lost in a drinking contest. "I'm going to be taking this as a present," said the stranger as he reached for the small top that concealed Cana's breasts from view. He didn't get far however as he found his path blocked.

"I don't mind friendly competition," said Sanji slightly annoyed that he wasn't permitted to light up a smoke indoors. "As I recall however no stakes were made at the beginning of the contest and I will not let you destroy Lady Cana's honour by stripping her in front of everyone here."

While the members of Fairy Tail thought that Sanji was being incredibly noble by standing up to this drunkard, the Straw Hats all knew that while Sanji wouldn't let somebody else strip Cana he wouldn't waste a second if he got the opportunity to do so himself.

"Bacchus?" questioned Erza as she finally came around to see what the commotion was.

"Yo, if it isn't Erza," said the member of Quatro Cerberus.

"You reek," said Erza quickly picking up the stench of alcohol upon Bacchus' breath.

"You're a fine babe as always," said Bacchus and Sanji had to force himself not to strike out at the drunkard as he completely agreed with what the man was saying.

"It's been a long time," said Erza.

"You know him?" asked Lucy as she too got involved in the conversation.

With the threat seemingly having passed, Sanji felt that this was as good a time as any to get out of the conversation. Craving a cigarette, he stepped outside of the bar in order to allow himself to light up a smoke. Taking in a deep breath, he knew that when he stepped inside once more he would make his declaration, undoubtedly he would be the one competing tomorrow.

It wasn't long before the door was opened and a laughing Bacchus staggered out into the open and Sanji couldn't help but speak up. "Oi Bacchus," he said as his visible eye caught the attention of the drunk. "If I were you, I'd hope that you don't encounter me on the battlefield anytime soon. For trying to disrobe Cana-chan I will make you suffer."

"I'd like to see you try!" laughed Bacchus as he stumbled off towards where he thought his guild was being housed. Sanji let out a sigh as he finished off the last of his smoke, letting the cigarette drop from his lips to the floor before extinguishing it with the base of his foot. Turning back towards the bar, he needed to make sure that Luffy didn't eat the entire place out of food in the brief period he had been gone. Kami knew that that boy would do it if unsupervised.

...

On the other side of town, Jellal had practically given up on his search. Over time the energy he had been tracking had become fainter and fainter until he could barely feel it at all. Even though he could feel that the magic wasn't the same as he had felt several times before, he had been willing to chase up any leads that may have appeared.

With a defeated sigh, he turned to return to where the rest of Fairy Tail drunk merrily but paused as he watched one man exit out of a bar of some description. "Those were the best cherry pies," declared the man boldly as he patted his stomach before his eyes locked on to Jellal. "Oh, you're that Mystogan fellow that fought today."

"Yes," said Jellal. "If you'll excuse me."

"By all means," said the man as he allowed Jellal through. "If you fight in the tournament again, try not to screw up so badly, zehahahahahaha!

...

**Hope you enjoyed**

**Buslimpan: Yea, Ace's going to compete but not within the next few chapters. He'll get the chance to show off later.**

**Jonjames427: Ah, it was written that the straw hat was torn, not cut. There's a difference between the two. Although Roger riding Acnologia would be a pretty entertaining Omake.**

**Son Goshen: It's not just...actually I'll let you figure out what else could be out there.**

**MASSEXPLOSION: I try to avoid the fillers as much as I can and basically anything that I deem not overly worthy or just plain boring I tend not to write. An example would be last chapter I could have written out the fight between Flare and Lucy but we already know how that would turn out so there was no point in me doing so. From here on out though a good deal of the matches will have changed so who knows what'll occur.**

**Peace**


	27. Chapter 27

**Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece or Fairy Tail**

**...**

The event of today's competition portion of the Grand Magic Games was Chariot; a game where the competitors make their way across moving platforms in a race to the finish. If one were to ignore the pitiful forms of the three Dragon Slayers who had struggled to make it past the first platform and focus on the rest of the mages they would find a very competitive race. Over half the distance had been covered by the five remaining contestants with Kurohebi of Raven Tail leading the way, his slender form seemingly allowing him to maintain a fast pace throughout the course of the race without the need for him to rely on his magical abilities.

Seemingly content in second place, Yuuka of Lamia Scale decided to ensure that with the solid possibility that he would not drop below fifth place as a result of the three Dragon Slayers, he decided to play his trump card early on.

"Wave boost!" he shouted as he used his magic from his hands to push himself forward.

"I feel funny," commented Risley of Mermaid Heel as she sat behind in the afterglow of Yuuka's technique.

"My magic negates the effect of your magic when you're in my shockwave," explained Yuuka confidently as he looked over his shoulder at the three competitors that he could see. While he knew that the he was closing on the member of Raven Tail he had to be cautious of whatever could come from behind him. Risley he wasn't so worried about but rather it were the other two competitors. Bacchus of Quatro Cereberus was well known as a powerful mage and as a result he had to be cautious of what could potentially come. At the same time however, the final opponent could be even more dangerous and undoubtedly the only reason that he wasn't leading at the moment was because Sanji had been flirting with Risley for a good portion of the race.

"Never underestimate a chubby girl," warned Ridley as she started running to the side of the narrow passage to the edge of the platform where her magic could once again be utilised. In spectacular fashion she began to run across the side of the platform, the gravity around her seemingly becoming perpendicular to the normal effects of gravity.

"Risley-chan's so cool," admired Sanji, Yuuka's wave seemingly having no effect on him.

"Seems like everybody's trying their best," said Bacchus from his position at the back of the pack. The member of Quatro Cerberus hadn't been able to put in a great effort up to this point due to the effects of the previous night still hanging over his head. Despite having traces of alcohol in his system he had been surprisingly clear headed as he focused on the form of Sanji that sat in front of him. The blonde man simply ran through the magic negating wave with seemingly no problems at all, taking all of it in stride as if he wasn't bothered by it at all. A vicious smirk crossed Bacchus' face as he decided to spice up the game a bit. Lifting his foot high into the air, he slammed it down onto the platform he was standing on and the effect was almost instantaneous.

The carriage Bacchus had been standing on had split clean in two, the wooden planks unable to withstand the wrath of the man from Quatro Cerberus. All of the platforms in front were also affected by the assault, shaking left, right, up and down, tossing both Risley and Yuuka to all fours, thankfully still managing to hold on to their platforms without falling down to the street below them.

In the stands everone stared in awe at the pure strength the man had before the drunken guild member charged forward, his mind set on the task ahead. While he knew that to finish the race in first place would not be a problem now that all of the platforms had been destroyed, he had another task to do before he got there. As he ran forward he spotted the blonde haired form of Sanji helping Risley to her feet, even in this moment the member of the Straw Hat guild seemingly cared about the wellbeing of the opposing team player more than anything else. This of course provided the perfect opportunity for Bacchus as he struck Sanji viciously across the side of the head with enough force to knock him into the air and away from the carriage.

"Sanji, the member of the Straw Hats has been knocked off of the platform!" shouted Chapati from the stand as both Yajima and the guest judge of the day, Jason of the weekly sorcerer, watched to see if Sanji had any way to ensure his team did not fall into last place again. While it didn't seem likely, both of them knew not to underestimate the abilities of the members of the Straw Hats.

"Later suckers!" he shouted out as he closed the gap on Kurohebi, the member of Raven Tail seemingly having managed to avoid a good deal of the destruction to maintain a solid lead. With Bacchus' speed however the mage quickly caught up and claimed first place, the other members of the competition still finding their way back into the contest.

Reaching the end of the platforms, Bacchus turned as he made his way towards the finish line. With the goal line in sight, he could almost smell the ten points that would be added to his team, either that or it was the Sake he would devour later that night. What he never smelt coming however was a foot colliding with the side of his head and knocking him out of bounds, dropping Quatro Cerberus from first place in the race to dead last with no hope of climbing further.

Lifting his head out of the dirt, Bacchus looked towards the finish line to see Sanji standing there casually lighting a cigarette. Bacchus wasn't really angry at what had happened, but more confused than anything, wondering how Sanji had not been eliminated from the race when he had been knocked off of the platform. Undoubtedly the crowd knew but he hadn't been bothered to listen to the commentator's outbursts and rather simply focused on the task at hand.

Despite the standoff that seemed to be underway, Kurohebi was still charging home having reached the final platform. Even though the finish line was in sight he could see the one vicious obstacle that stood in front of him and while he had confidence in his magic he didn't really want to show anything off at this stage that would hinder him when it eventually came for him to fight in the tournament. Running forward, he knew that he would have to outwit the competitor in front of him without slowing down for a second, any slipping in speed would undoubtedly cost him ten points which would undoubtedly impress Master Ivan.

Sanji turned his head to see the member of Raven Tail sprinting forward. While he had nothing against the black haired individual he couldn't forgive the team in general for what had happened to Lucy-chan.

Spotting his opening, Kurohebi pushed towards the left before quickly sidestepping widely left to try and fake Sanji out before jumping into the air hoping to simply outmanoeuvre the blonde. Sanji seemed to have been able to see through his entire strategy in an instance as he jumped up but for some reason the distance he had jumped was well beyond what was necessary. Before Kurohebi could even contemplate what was going on, he felt the vicious strike from Sanji strike him fiercely in the back of the head. That was the last thing Kurohebi felt in the game, the strike having knocked him out cold before he even hit the ground.

"Impressive," commented Bacchus, the member of Quatro Cerberus having been able to pick up the technique Sanji had performed.

"You managed to see it then," said Sanji as he took the cigarette from his lips and exhaled a small puff of smoke.

"You pushed yourself off the ground and above him, then somehow kicked the air above you with enough force to actually propel yourself downwards where you struck out at that guy," analysed Bacchus. "I take it when I knocked you off the platform you simply kicked across the air and made your way here?" Bacchus received no answer for his question which he quickly figured out was a simple 'yes.' "I see, after that performance I can undoubtedly call you...'Wild.'"

A smile crossed Sanji's lips, the blonde having figured out that having called him 'Wild' seemingly meant that Bacchus was bestowing his best compliments upon the chef.

"And Risley of Mermaid Heel wins it!" shouted Chapati as the formerly chubby girl that had somehow managed to rid herself of her pudgy form crossed the finish line in first place. "Quickly following behind her is Yuuka of Lamia Scale claiming eight points for his team."

"Shit," cursed Sanji as he realised that the race was still going and crossed the line, claiming third place despite having stood at the finish line for a solid minute.

"Sanji puts in a good performance for the Straw Hats and claims third place alongside having taken out two members of the contest," announced Chapati as Bacchus got to his feet, the member of Quatro Cerberus walking around the finish line. Lifting his head, the member of the wildest guild looked up at the lacrima vision to see the three dragon slayers marching forward despite their weakness clearly showing. Even though Natsu was in a spiel about how he would push through the pain for his guild because they were more than a family, Bacchus hardly paid it any attention as he looked at Sanji. Even though the blonde had proved that he was 'Wild' in this encounter, the next time they crossed paths in the tournament he couldn't help but wonder who would be the wilder one between them. Just the thought of the battle was enough to get his blood pumping, undoubtedly he would need a drink later to calm his senses.

Meanwhile Natsu and Gajeel had managed to push forward as far as they could, determined to make it to the line to prove their worth to Fairy Tail, the rest of the guild crying from up in the stands as the crowds cheered for Fairy Tail to push themselves forward and do their best. "Natsu Dragneel has managed to claw himself into fourth place earning Fairy Tail A four points while Gajeel Redfox follows closely behind to give Fairy Tail B three points for his effort to come in fifth. Sting of Sabretooth has given up, putting himself in seventh position earning Sabretooth one point while Kurohebi who is still unconscious mere feet from the finish line claims sixth place," announce Chapati.

"That shakes up the leader board a bit," commented Yajima.

"These games are so coooool!" shouted Jason as he pumped his fists several times.

"With the second competition coming to a close, the leader board stands as such," said Chapati as he began reading out the scores. "In first place is Lamia Scale with twenty four points leading the pack, closely followed by Raven Tail with twenty two points but at what cost? Third is the dominant Sabretooth with twenty one points while Mermaid Heel jumps to fourth with that win, securing themself ten points to give them a total of nineteen. The Straw Hats have eleven points which secures them fifth place while Fairy Tail A and B are tied for sixth, both teams having while Quatro Cerberus is on the bottom of the ladder with three points."

"With it only being the second day it is still any guild's game," said Yajima.

"Well it seems that Lamia Scale is going to be extending its lead," said Chapati. "Tobi of Lamia Scale was meant to be fighting Kurohebi of Raven Tail but I have been notified from the doctors that Kurohebi is unable to battle. Since Raven Tail haven't announced who their substitute is we have no choice but to..."

"Wait," shouted out a new voice. "There will still be a match."

"Here I was thinking I wouldn't get a chance to fight," said Tobi as he looked down the tunnel where his opponent was walking in from. The dog man's eyes focused as he tried to get a good look at his opponent.

"We have received notification from the tournament advisor that this man is the substitute for Raven Tail and only made it in to town as of recently hence why he was not here prior," explained Chapati as he read the latest notification that had been put in front of him. "I would announce his name but the form he has filled in has been done so in a different language, does this mean this new competitor is a foreigner of some kind?"

"In a way," chuckled the big man as he entered the open, the sun shining down on his form. For most of the audience they tried to take in the appearance of this man but for the members of the Straw Hats many of them looked on in a mix of anger, fear and confusion. Ace managed to notice the looks that his fellow companions from the Grand Line gave this new challenger and couldn't quite figure out what to make of it as he turned his head to focus on this man and the black beard that was undoubtedly his most prominent feature. "If it helps, call me Teach, zehahahahaha!"

...

**Hope you enjoyed.**

**If people question why Lamia Scale simply didn't walk away with the victory, my understanding is that the reserved member can fight provided the person who was meant to be in the battle portions was out. I can base this on the fact that War Cry got beaten by Orga in the first round allowing Bacchus to participate in the fighting part of the competition. As far as I can tell there is no conclusive ruling on this so if anybody actually knows that would be much appreciated.**

**As a quick side note, there will unlikely be an update coming anytime soon as I am set to depart on a vacation with some relatives. I'll be gone for any time period between three weeks and five months (while my departure is set my return is still a bit up in the air). So yea, don't expect any immediate updates for this, or any of my other stories. Hope you don't mind.**

**Kuranzyan Blightwalked: Why? Why not?**

**GoddessofNight08: Lucky for me.**

**Erlomast: Thanks for the review and I'll give it my best shot without actually revealing what may lie ahead. The mark that Ace has of the Fairy Tail guild is not as big as the mark that he had in Canon for the Whitebeard Pirates. That being said, as this mark was bestowed upon him by Mavis herself it carries about as much weight as the canon tattoo he had. Hope that helps.**

**A Certain Unfortunate Guy: Chin up pal.**

**One final note, the second round of this battle portion will be between the Straw Hats and Fairy Tail B. Got any preference for the fight, leave it with me in a review.**

**Well, until next time I guess. Ja Ne.**


	28. Chapter 28

**Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece or Fairy Tail**

**...**

Ace looked down at the display in front of him as Teach manhandled his opponent. He had to give credit to the member of Lamia Scale, Tobi had a lot of heart but against this man he had little chance. Despite the black clad man being a well rounded fellow he moved with speed and agility, something which the commentators had had a field day of reporting. Not only that but his attacks were vicious and brutal but Ace could see that he was only toying with the person in front of him. This was a message to his brother and his crew, Blackbeard wanted to show the Straw Hats that their troubles were far from over.

Delving into the back of his mind, Ace recalled how Luffy had explained that it had been this man who had somehow interrupted Kuma's attack and sent them to this world. Ace could then assume that while they had been retreating then Teach had confronted Kuma one on one. The strength to take on a warlord was not something to be scoffed at and clearly Blackbeard had more to show then the display he was putting on for the entertainment of the crowd.

"Take this!" shouted Tobi as he swiped out with his clawed hand, trying to land a single blow on the bigger man. Teach leant back ever so slightly allowing the claws to miss by barely an inch before he reached forward and grabbed Tobi's head with a single hand, seconds before he slammed the skull into the ground with a thickening crunch that had many in the audience squirm ever so slightly.

"I have no personal business with you, but I need to make an example of you," stated Blackbeard as dark tendrils began to circle his palm before he slammed the appendage into Tobi's stomach.

"What's going on?" shouted Chapati into the microphone as the darkness seemed to pull away at something while Tobi squirmed on the ground, his claws shrinking back into his fingernails.

"Kuro Kyūshū!" shouted Teach as he finished his attack stepping away to allow Tobi to get back to his feet.

"What's going on?" questioned Tobi as he tried to summon his patented claws back to his hands but as if the magic had been stripped from his body he couldn't do anything. Before he could say anything more Teach struck with green claws, piercing straight into Tobi's chest before causing an electric pulse to sending the member of Lamia Scale as his body was fried internally by thousands of volts of electricity.

With a cruel smirk spread across his face, Teach withdrew his new technique from Tobi's body, the opponent falling to the ground mildly twitching as electricity still danced within his limbs. "Not the best ability I've gained but it can have its uses," said Teach menacingly as he started to walk away, the match already having concluded.

"I don't know what happened, but it almost seems as if Teach stole the magic that Tobi was using and used it against him," stated Chapati trying to figure out just what had happened.

"That was not cool," said Jason, his usually hip attitude having seemingly evaporated for the moment. Those who knew him however were aware that he'd get back into his usual spirit sometime soon.

"Kuro Kyūshū, Black Absorption," said Yajima. "At this moment in time we can believe that Teach has the skill to absorb an opponent's magic but we don't know whether this is a temporary measure or something more permanent."

"Shouldn't magic like that be contained in some way?" asked Chapati. While having no magical power in his own right he could imagine the devastating effects it would have on a mage who was stripped of their magic, especially for an extended period of time.

"After this tournament I'm sure some measures will be put into play," said Yajima deep in thought.

Within the competitor's booth Luffy's fist slammed into the concrete wall next to him, denting the material as if it was nothing more than mud. "Blackbeard," he cursed underneath his breath. This had been the person who had not only had them sent to this world but now he was stealing the magical ability of other people as if it was just his for the taking. He was robbing people of their livelihood and then allowing them to wallow in their own grief. Silently, Luffy declared that he would stop him.

"He can absorb the magic of other people, who knows how many mages he's already collected magic from," said Sanji with anger in his eyes, knowing that Teach wouldn't show any indifference between men and women in getting any magic he deemed to be strong.

"Considering that it's a Devil Fruit ability, I don't think Tobi will be getting his magic back anytime soon unless we end Blackbeard once and for all," said Zoro, his palms resting on the handles of his katanas.

"So scary," whimpered Usopp from behind Zoro's back, shielding himself from view.

"With that dominant display by Teach he has given Raven Tail ten points placing them on top of the leaderboard with thirty two points while Lamia Scale may have lost something more than just the match while they remain on twenty four," said Chapati as he read off the scoreboard.

"With three matches still to go however there is still much that can change," said Yajima as he found himself lightening up slightly after the previous display.

"This next match promises to be cool!" shouted Jason finding his mojo once again.

"Indeed, the next match to take place is to be between two S ranked mages, Erza of Fairy Tail versus Bacchus of Quatro Cerberus," said Chapti looking down at the scheduled program.

"Me," repeated Erza as she looked towards the crowd, at the people who would be cheering her on.

"Kick his ass Erza," reassured Ace, patting her lightly on the shoulder.

"Do your best," said Lucy with a smile.

Gray remained silent but the scarlet haired swordswoman knew that he was silently giving her support. "Very well," said Erza as she started making her way to the arena. On her way however she came across medics carrying Tobi on a stretcher and as much as she tried she couldn't feel any magical energy radiating from his body. She wasn't the best at sensing magical energy but she couldn't even find the faintest trace, and that frightened her.

Shielding her eyes as she was became basked in the sunlight, Erza was met both with the cheers of the guild members of Fairy Tail and the audience, Natsu's speech seemingly given them a reason to cheer for Fairy Tail. Standing upon the battleground, Erza's sword glittered in the sunlight as she stared at her opponent...whom was currently resting upon the dirt. "Are you alright?" asked Erza.

"Heads still spinning a bit," explained Bacchus as he stifled a yawn. "Bit of hair of the dog will clear me up."

"I see you mean to go all out then," said Erza as her stance changed ever so slightly before she was illuminated in a bright light, coming back into view in her Flight Armour well aware that she would likely need the extra speed in order to combat what was coming.

"Well we've got a limited time to show these people just what we're capable of," said Bacchus as he got into a sitting position. Reaching down, he grabbed his bottle and quickly took a light sip, momentarily savouring the taste. "Plus we both have something to prove here."

"Both of us?" replied Erza, unsure just what the member of Quattro Cerberus was getting at.

"As you probably know, the last few years your guild name has been dragged through the mud, digging itself into holes that many didn't even know existed," said Bacchus taking another swig from his bottle, this one much bigger than the last. Dropping the bottle, it was now clear to see that he had managed to remove nearly every drop of his drink and it would only take a minute at most for it to fully take effect. "This year however, two guilds not only came out of the blue to make it past the preliminaries of the tournament but get higher rankings than anybody could have expected. We need to show this crowd that just because we're not that big or fancy doesn't mean we can simply be ignored. So let's show these people that we are just as WILD!"

That was all the warning Erza received before she quickly found herself leaping backwards to avoid the palm thrust that had been driven towards her cheek. Slashing back in retaliation, Bacchus avoided the sword strike by ducking underneath the blow before springing forward and connecting with Erza's stomach. Fairy Tail's Titania however used this as an opportunity as she lifted up her knee and connected solidly with Bacchus' sternum, driving him back a few steps allowing the audience to cheer loudly at the quick exchange.

"What a blistering start to the match!" shouted Chapati.

"COOL!" shouted Jason at the top of his lungs causing many within the crowd to cover their ears in case they went deaf.

Neither of the competitors paid the commentators any attention as they continued to duel between one another with fiery passion. To most it would seem as both parties were going full force with one another but only those who truly knew the swordswoman could see that she was hesitating slightly in her strikes, not giving the fight everything she had. Erza knew this as well as she fended off a palm that was heading for her chest before kicking Bacchus across the side of the head. As he was sent soaring however Erza was caught off guard as her opponents leg came around and caught her in the shoulder, damaging it slightly.

Both of them stood still momentarily, sizing each other up...either that or Bacchus was now paying attention to Erza's breasts, it was hard to tell with him swaying from side to side continuously. Looking back on what Bacchus had said before the first attack had been thrown, she couldn't help but wonder if she truly had something to prove in this fight before these people. After the fight between Kagura and Zoro the previous day, was the display she was putting on subpar at best.

A glittering light covered Erza before she changed back into her starting armour, the one she felt most comfortable in. This however got a questioning look from Bacchus. "Admitting defeat? That's not like you Erza," he said as he scratched at his head.

"That's not it," said Erza shaking her head. "You said we both have something to prove here, and I'm going to prove to you that I don't need anything more than the basics in order to beat you," she declared as she held the sword in both hands.

"Wild," said Bacchus with a smirk before he charged forward, striking at Erza several times in an instant, blows which many of the audience couldn't see. For a moment the two simply stood there before Erza's armour shattered from the force that Bacchus had put into the strikes.

"What, what just happened?" questioned Chapati from the commentator's booth, having been unable to properly see the exchange.

"You know what Erza," said Bacchus slowly as he dropped to his knees, the damage he had taken from the single counter strike having struck him having been enough to fell the S class mage. "You truly are wild."

As Bacchus collapsed in a heap on the ground, Erza lifted her sword and held it high in the air as the audience started to shout and scream her name and the name of her guild. While it didn't look like she had sustained too much damage she would need to have Porlyusica take a look at her, the blows Bacchus had rained down upon her had packed a punch behind them.

"Congratulations Erza," said Yajima softly up in the stands, his voice not loud enough to be picked up by the microphone.

"That win takes Fairy Tail A up to fifteen points while, Quatro Cerberus are now cemented in bottom place with three points, Bacchus really hasn't had a good day now has he," said Chapati.

"Be that as he may, he was still cool!" shouted Jason as the arena was cleared of the previous competitors.

"The next match promises to be an interesting one with Juvia of Fairy Tail B taking on Nami of the Straw Hats," announced Chapati to a thunderous applause, many wanting to see just what the female member of the Straw Hats was capable of.

"I'm fighting, I don't want to," said Nami suddenly becoming very frightened of what could potentially happen.

"Think of the prize at the end," said Zoro knowing how to motivate the orange haired girl.

"I'll definitely win this," declared Nami as her eyes changed into jewels.

It didn't take long for the ship's navigator to make their way down to the arena where she found Juvia already waiting for her, the water mage wanting to make up for the previous day's embarrassment. Top of Form

Juvia locked eyes upon the target in front of her. Having already been defeated so easily by a member of the Straw Hats several months earlier she did not want another thing to repeat itself, especially after having succumbed to sixth place in the contest part of the competition the previous day.

Nami for her part looked rather calm and composed but knowing that her opponent was essentially made of water made her a tough enemy. Had she not had Usopp do his best to improve her climatact with everything that she seemed would be worthwhile she doubted whether or not she'd have much of a chance.

Pulling her arm back, Juvia sent a vicious horizontal wave at Nami. "Water Slicer!" she shouted as the attack quickly closed the distance between them. As an opening move, Juvia wanted to see just what Nami would do to avoid or block such a simple attack. For it to slice straight through Nami's body made Juvia's stomach turn. Having seen the attack slice through solid steel, Juvia couldn't help but fear that she had just killed the orange haired pirate before the image in front of her began to flicker out of existence as if she was a ghost.

"Mirage Tempo," stated Nami as she stepped out of the air. She had quickly realized that with Juvia being made out of water it meant that there was plenty of moisture in the air. Along with the Heat Dial within her climatact it allowed complete control of the terrain.

Whipping around on the spot, a jet of water was unleashed from Juvia's palm which once again passed through Nami before the image of the orange haired girl faded into nothingness.

"Juvia is struggling to compete against the illusion magic that Nami is showing, how will the Fairy Tail mage compete against such a thing?" shouted Chapati, his voice radiating around the entire stadium.

The blue haired wizard turned from side to side, expecting an attack to come from any side at any given time. Although she was spared in such a way that despite Nami seemingly having the upper hand the pirate had no real idea how to progress from here. Effectively she believed that she could finish everything with a single Thunderbolt Tempo but with the long range attacks being sent in random directions it wasn't going to be easy.

Juvia's mind raced in overload before she sent twin jets of water at the ground, the liquid spreading across the dirt at a tremendous rate as Juvia continued to pour magic into the attack. From her hidden position, Nami backed away slowly wondering just what Juvia had planned. A puddle began to form at Juvia's feet but it continued to spread slowly, water starting to cover the entire battlefield.

"Shit," cursed Nami as she realised what Juvia was planning. Considering that the Fairy Tail mage was made of water chances were that they would be able to feel everything in the water as if it was a part of themselves. Plus if the water covered all of the surface area then she would be vulnerable if she used any lightning attacks. Things just got a whole lot more difficult.

"It seems as if Juvia is literally trying to flush out her opponent," shouted Chapati.

"That's so cool!" exclaimed Jason, his voice as enthusiastic as ever.

For the retired member of the council however he watched with half closed eyelids, his focus shifting from spot to spot on the battlefield trying to predict where Nami would appear from. He still had questions in regards to just who the Straw Hat's were and he couldn't help but wonder just what the orange haired girl would do in this scenario.

Pulling apart an individual piece of her weapon, a sharp point appeared which she then drove into the wall with all of her force. With the water now surrounding her ankles Nami did her best to leap up on top of the cylinder but not before a few drops touched her skin.

"Juvia found you," declared Juvia as the mirage seemingly dispersed as she looked to where Nami was now perched, the entire stadium filled with water.

"It was just a bit too late," stated Nami with a smirk as her other mirage vanished, revealing a black cloud hanging above the stadium, lightning dancing across it's form.

"What?" questioned Juvia as Nami whipped out another part of the climatact, a part of the original she had kept.

"Thunderbolt Tempo!" shouted Nami as she summoned a bolt of lightning to descend towards Juvia, the water mage unable to do anything as electricity coursed through her body causing her to scream in pain.

"JUVIA!"

Still remaining perched upon her small stand, Nami couldn't help but breathe a sigh of relief that the battle was over, yet with her guard lowered she didn't notice the water beneath her shoot painfully upwards, electrical current still pulsating within the liquid. Nami could do nothing as she felt the wrath of her own technique alongside Juvia's and she yelled in agony, she never knew just how much her attack hurt.

"I heard...Gray-sama's voice," said Juvia, her body charred and burnt as she struggled to keep her feet whilst her body pulsated with the current still affecting her.

"Guess...we'll have to call this one a draw," said Nami with a smile before she collapsed, her body unable to take the strain.

Juvia for her part crashed to her knees, slowly becoming one with the water beneath her as the ground began to absorb the vast amounts of water.

"What a match," shouted Chapati, "Both competitors gave it their all for us today and in return they both gain five points for their team."

"Unlike the other matches we have seen, this one consisted of a lot of planning and preparation well before the bout even began," said Yajima having been pleased with what he had saw.

"COOL!" shouted Jason, his catchphrase starting to get on the nerves of those nearby.

"For the final match of the day we have Yukino of Sabertooth against Kagura of Mermaid Heel, it seems the fans are still itching to see more of Mermaid Heel's strongest warrior," said Chapati. "While Yukino has witnessed Kagura's fight yesterday, we have little knowledge on just what Yukino herself will bring to the table. Plus we have to question just how prepared both mentally and physically Kagura is after yesterday's fight."

Walking through the hallway towards where the arena stood, Kagura's grip upon Archenemy tightened, the fight from the previous day still resonating within her mind. This time, she would not lose.

...

**Hope you enjoyed.**

**After six long months I finally have access to my laptop again, meaning that I will be able to provide updates from time to time. I still am on my working holiday, I've settled down for the moment and found some full time employment but who knows when I'll move elsewhere again. Until then...**

**To all those who bitch about how weak Ace is compared to Canon when you don't even bother to read between the lines: Tough luck**

**To all those who are getting confused as to what is going on with the Straw Hats power, Blackbeard and Ace: I'm going to steal a review left by Blunderbore as he seems to have understood everything so far. "**_**Ace got transported to Fairy Tail land shortly after the fight with Jimbei and before meeting Whitebeard. So he wouldn't know who Teach, or why he should care that he murdered someone. Luffy told Ace shortly after their meeting that Blackbeard is the one who tried to capture them with his devil fruit, but Kuma interfered and sent them all to Fiore. So all they know is that he is trying to kill them. It is true that they didn't have post time-skip ablities when they were transported, but that is what they spent the last 3 months training."**_

**WTF: You claim I haven't updated in years when it's only been 5 months or so, your loss**

**Next chapter hopefully won't take as long this time round.**

**Ja Ne**


	29. Chapter 29

**Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece or Fairy Tail**

**...**

"Why does she get to compete again?" asked Luffy as his attention drew towards Kagura, recalling how the swordswoman had battled Zoro the previous day. Only the captain of the crew along with the swordsman and sniper currently remained, Sanji having rushed off to the infirmary to make sure that Nami was alright.

"The fights are organized by the crowds," explained Usopp. "Basically you can't fight unless the crowd wants you to fight."

"So basically because of the performance we put on yesterday people decided that they wanted more," stated Zoro as she watched her last opponent fight it out on the battlefield once more. Whilst the girl from Sabertooth would make for some tough competition for most people in this tournament he could see that he had succeeded in lighting a fire in Kagura's eyes. Her attacks were fiercer and hardly a single move was going to waste. This fight would be over shortly.

"That's not really the problem here though," said Usopp as his thoughts returned to one of the previous bouts of the day.

"Save it for another day," said Zoro as he turned around and started making his way towards the exit. "Whether or not he fights us or we fight him, considering the amount of people here it would be stupid for any of us to do anything rash. We may have been able to outrun the marines back on the Grand Line but the city guards aren't marines. Add on top of that the other amount of magic users in the city for the tournament and we could have a full scale war on our hands."

"Sounds like fun," said Luffy showing off a goofy smile.

"We've already gone to war with one world but that was over a nakama," stated Zoro not bothering to look over his shoulder. "If push comes to shove, we will kill Blackbeard."

The smile dropped from Luffy's face while Usopp began to shiver, the thought of going toe to toe with Blackbeard again nearly making him faint from the horrible thought. It didn't help that they weren't quite sure just what they would be facing if they fought against Blackbeard again now that he had taken away Tobi's magical power and added it to his own. Of course that was just the one extra ability he had gained that they knew about, there was no way of telling just how strong he was.

"If he dares to threaten my nakama, nothing in this town will stop me," declared Luffy boldly. Hearing Luffy's words of reassurance, Zoro resumed his walk, disappearing through the doorway without saying another word.

...

"And with that thrilling battle day two of the Grand Magic Games comes to a close!" shouted Chapati, the audience cheering loudly after having witnessed the multiple spectacles for the day. "After today's competition the leaderboard has been shaken up something fierce with Raven Tail leading the competition with 32 points after Teach's dominant performance. Second is Mermaid Heel, the victory in both the stage part of the competition as well as the battle portion giving the all female guild twenty points for the day which leaves them on 29. Coming third is Lamia Scale with 24 points but they may have lost a player at the cost of being so high up the leaderboard. Fourth is Sabertooth and I imagine many could never have predicted that last year's winners would only have 21 points at this stage of the competition. The Straw Hats are currently in fifth position with 16 points with Fairy Tail A right on their heels with 15 points. Fairy Tail B are five points behind their counterparts and currently have ten points. Secured at the bottom of the table is Quatro Cerberus who have only secured three points after two days yet with three days still to go there is still hope for the hounds."

"This competition is so COOL!" shouted Jason making sure he got one final word in before the end of the day.

"I look forward to seeing how the rest of the competition unfolds," said Yajima having been pleased with the display that he had seen today.

"Thank you all for coming and we hope that you come enjoy the festivities with us over the next few days," concluded Chapati as the mikes cut off and the audience started to make their way out of the arena.

"Well I guess with everybody else having had a shot I'll take on the task for tomorrow," declared Ace as he titled the hat upon his head up the slightest of margins. "Take it you guys will have no qualms with that."

"Not at all," said Erza standing nearby, her body bandaged up from the final attack that Bacchus had delivered to her.

"Go for it, wouldn't want you to be on uneven ground now would we," said Natsu and the rest of the group had to pause momentarily as they wondered whether or not Natsu had actually said the saying correctly.

"I wonder who Luffy would send forth," muttered Ace as he looked towards where the Straw Hats were located, or at least would be located if they hadn't already vacated the premises.

"Well if we were to mention that you'd be competing then he'd jump right on the bandwagon wouldn't he," stated Gray knowing roughly what Ace's brother would do. It had been a similar session with him and Lyon on the first day and knew that the rivalry they shared was almost mimicked entirely by the two pirates.

"Perhaps I'll leak some false information or something, mess with his head a little," said Ace with a menacing chuckle.

"You're truly evil you know that," said Lucy getting the rest of the group to smile as they all turned towards the exit.

"Anyways, I'm going to go check up on Wendy and tell her the results so far," stated Ace as he started to jog, weaving his way through the corridors of the building as he made his way to the infirmary. Natsu had informed them all earlier about how Raven Tail had seemingly attempted to kidnap the youngest member of the team and the former pirate wanted to make sure that she was alright. Yet the former captain found himself in a predicament as he found himself standing in front of Sabertooth, Yukino with her head bowed deeply as a woman wearing a blue outfit stood in front of her.

"Pathetic," declared the woman in an accent that Ace couldn't quite pick up. He hadn't seemingly been noticed at this point and slunk behind the nearest corner intending to just watch what happened for the moment as the woman continued her declaration. "Father instructed me to come post-haste once Rufus had been deemed unfit to battle for the coming days and now you've gone and disgraced the guild in such a pitiful manner."

Yukino said nothing and dared not even lift her head, whether to hide the wounds from the fight with Kagura or out of shame it was hard to tell. Seemingly unsatisfied with the silence, the overly pompous woman lashed out with her foot, kicking her guildmate in the stomach hard enough that blood splashed out of Yukino's mouth, making the celestial wizard drop to her knees. Seemingly that wasn't humiliation enough as the woman's foot was placed on top of Yukino's head before driving the girl's face into the floor with a sickening thud. None of the other three members of Sabertooth did anything as they watched the display, knowing simply of the strength that the woman still standing possessed.

Ace meanwhile had seen all he had needed to.

"That's enough!" he shouted as he made his presence known. Sting's eyes sharpened slightly as he looked at the member of Fairy Tail, his hand had not quite healed since that day.

"Oh, a jester makes his presence felt," stated Minerva, not lifting her foot off of Yukino's head as she applied more pressure making the girl beneath her squeal out in pain, unseen tears rolling down her face.

"A jester I may be but I cannot sit by and watch as you treat one of your nakama like this," he said through clenched teeth, his rage slowly boiling.

"Nakama," repeated Rogue, the word seeming foreign in concept considering that Sabertooth valued nothing more than strength and power. Friends and comrades weren't even part of the guild.

"Nakama? Do not preach your worthless words," said Minerva. "This trash has disgraced our guild and I have deemed it that she is no longer worth keeping within our walls."

"She loses a single battle, and you have the thought that she's no longer worthwhile," said Ace slowly, his mind dropping back to when he was captain of his own pirate crew. If he had had the same mentality of this woman then he wouldn't even have had a crew, all of them would have been abandoned. Such a thought... "DON'T FUCK WITH ME!"

The members of Sabertooth couldn't help but take a step back at the fierceness of his words not to mention the blunt rage that had been directed at them. "Oh, the kitten roars," mocked Minerva, the only one who hadn't backed down from Ace's challenge.

"Yukino," said Ace with contained fury, his eyes looking down at the girl who was struggling to get to her knees, "Is now under the protection of Fairy Tail. We believe that those who treat their comrades like trash are worse than trash themselves. If you so much as think of striking her once more than no rules in this competition can keep you safe from my rage."

This had mixed reactions from the members of Sabertooth, many of which wondering whether or not it truly was a good idea to provoke this enemy any further. While they had no doubt that they could easily take him it wouldn't put the guild in good standing to decimate a rival in the middle of the arena outside of the scheduled fights. Minerva however didn't think in such a way as she lifted her foot back before punting Yukino across the side of the head, knocking the white haired girl out cold.

Flames began to leap off of Ace as he stepped forward with a purpose, his eyes focused directly on the one who drew his anger. As the distance was closed however, he opted not to strike out at the foe in front of him but rather slowly dropped down to a single knee before scooping up Yukino in his arms, holding her bridal style as he got back to his full height. Turning on his heel, he began to walk away which caused Minerva to scoff.

"Pitiful, here I was thinking that you had some bite to you. Clearly however you are no more than a pup among wolves who can barely yip," decreed Minerva which caused Ace to pause in his place.

"At sundown, all four of you meet me on the arena floor," stated Ace not bothering to turn around. "At that time there will be no guards and you can enter via the competitors entrance, if anybody is to ask state that you are merely going to participate in some training activities. Given your reputation you should have no problem getting in."

"You think you can truly take us on?" shouted Orga believing that he was being looked down upon.

"Meet me at sundown and you'll find out, who knows you may even get vengeance on the brother that took down your other teammate," said Ace as he began to walk away once more, the distance between the two groups growing.

"We should ignore this challenge," stated Rogue not really wanting to show off his abilities just yet.

"No, that would be rude of us," said Minerva as she watched the retreating boy with interest. "If we fail to come it would be seen as a sign of weakness, something we do not tolerate. We shall be here on time and teach this fool the true strength of Sabertooth."

...

"What's happening?' shouted Wendy as she turned towards the sound of the door being slammed open. While part of her believed that this was going to be another kidnapping attempt by Raven Tail (though this time she was going to defend herself) she couldn't really believe her eyes when she saw Ace walk in with the broken and beaten form of a member of Sabertooth.

Without a word, Ace laid the white haired girl down on the bed, tucking her under the blankets to make sure that she would remain warm. "Wendy," he said turning towards the youngest person in the room. "Could you do a quick check over her body and make sure she's not suffering from anything life threatening?"

Wendy nodded in understanding, knowing that Ace didn't really want her to waste too much of her energy while there were still several days of the competition to go. With green glowing hands, Wendy began her diagnostic analysis and after several minutes she concluded that there wasn't anything too be worried about. Or at least that was the case until the rest of the team showed up.

"Yukino!" shouted Lucy as she looked at the form of the other celestial mage, quickly noticing that she was far more damaged than she had been directly after the fight with Kagura.

"Don't tell me..." started Erza as her mind already raced to the conclusion.

"Natsu, Gray, come with me," stated Ace coldly as started walking towards the door. Neither of the other two said anything as they began to follow.

"Wait!" shouted Lucy as she reached out to her comrades only to be stopped by Erza.

"Let's wait here and make sure Yukino's alright when she wakes up," said the swordswoman knowing that things would only get complicated if Lucy was to join the boys.

While she didn't like it, Lucy dropped her head in acceptance as she looked over at Yukino with a worrisome look on her face, both over the health of the girl and the hope that Ace wouldn't do anything too foolish.

...

The three members of Fairy Tail strode with purpose, nothing slowing them down as they made their way through the busy streets. The setting sun created a picturesque scene over the town as amber light danced upon windows and rooftops yet few paid attention to it as they went about their business.

Ace did come to a stop however as he saw his brother along with his first mate walking around in front of him. "Zoro, you said there'd be meat," whinged Luffy.

"I know where we're going," declared Zoro as he walked towards where he believed the food shops were. Sadly they were in the complete other direction.

"Hey," shouted Ace getting their attention, a broad smile immediately covering Luffy's face as he rushed over to where his brother was standing.

"Hey Ace, do you know where the meat is?" he asked.

"If you want to give me a hand I'll shout you dinner," stated Ace, something which immediately set Luffy's eyes alight.

"What do you need a hand with?" asked Zoro getting in on the conversation.

"Sabertooth," said Gray with his hands in his pockets, his clothes remarkably still on his body.

"What about them?" asked Luffy tilting his head to the side.

"That girl who fought for them today was kicked out of their guild," said Natsu who was seething with fury at just the thought of what had happened. During the walk Ace had explained just what had happened between the members of the opposing guild and his words created a fire within his guildmates eyes that would not settle until the blood of Sabertooth was spilt.

Hearing Natsu's words both Zoro and Luffy lost their cheerful dispositions, the two pirates quickly coming to the same conclusion despite no words being said. "So we're going to go kick some ass," said Luffy without missing a beat.

"More than that," said Ace. "We're going to humiliate them."

...

"What a waste of time," complained Sting as he held his hands behind his head, his fingers interlocked with one another. Sundown had come and gone and while the members of Sabertooth had patiently waited for Ace to make his appearance he had never shown up.

"He must have realised that he had no chance," declared Orga a little upset that he hadn't had a chance to stretch his legs as it were.

Rogue and Minerva remained silent on the matter, both of them wondering whether or not there had been some plan behind Ace having called them out. Their troublesome thoughts turned out to be true as they reached the place where their guild was staying to find the front door having been blown off its hinges, splintered wood covering the ground in all directions.

"The hell..." said Sting as he sprinted through the carnage, quickly followed by Orga and Rogue while Minerva simply bowed her head already knowing what it would likely look like on the inside.

"Well played jester," she said before stepping forward, her pace not having increased in the slightest.

For the other three members of Sabertooth, they couldn't believe their eyes as they looked at the destruction in front of them. They had arrived at the central foyer and had found a truly devastating sight as each and every member of their guild was sprawled out on the floor, scrapes and bruises covering their bodies as droplets of blood dripped from various wounds. "What happened here?" said Sting in complete and utter disbelief.

"Sting-kun!" shouted Lector as the small cat ran up from his hiding place, Frosch quickly following as the frog suit wearing cat quickly found his way into Rogue's arms.

"Lector, who did this, what magic did they use?" asked Sting wanting to get some sort of answer out of his companion.

"None," replied Lector which made the others pause momentarily. "They didn't use any magic. There were five of them and none of them used magic!"

"All this...just with brute force," said Rogue slowly as he overlooked the carnage, not even the guild master had been spared.

"He wanted us out of the way," said Orga as the cogs turned into place, his palm balling into a fist making his knuckles go white.

"We should tell the authorities," said Rogue.

"No," said Minerva as she made her presence known. "This was a message, plain and simple. Tomorrow on the battlefield we shall return our message in kind and show them that they were foolhardy to make enemies of us."

...

**Hope you enjoyed.**


	30. Chapter 30

**Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece or Fairy Tail**

**...**

"What is it at this early hour of the morning?" asked Aracadios highly irritated by having been awoken at a time when the night was still at it's peak.

"Sir, we have a request from Sabertooth that we need your approval of," said the soldier as he saluted his commanding officer.

"Can't it wait until morning," grumbled Arcadios as he rubbed his eyes with the back of his hand.

"Well it's in regards to the tournament part of tomorrow's competition, Sabertooth demand that it be an event where multiple members of each team can compete against one another."

"Demand," repeated Arcadios, that single word standing out most of all.

"Indeed, they state that if their demands are not met they will immediately withdraw from this contest and all future contests until further notice," explained the soldier.

Arcadios took all of this information in despite his mind still not functioning at a hundred percent. Sabertooth were by far one of the more popular guilds and the loss of them could potentially cause calamity amongst the people wanting to watch the guilds combat one another. Worse case scenarios could even lead to a riot, and even though it was a farfetched idea it wasn't completely unlikely to happen. In order to ensure everything still went through, he would have to submit to Sabertooth's demands for the moment. For the Eclipse project he would not allow something so petty to hinder the plan.

"What event was planned for tomorrow?" asked Arcadios.

"Pandemonium," responded the soldier allowing the greater ranking warrior to think once more. There was a possibility they could restructure the event so that multiple people could be within the compound at once but the event was chaotic enough without extra people running from room to room.

"Create a two person per guild event," started Arcadios as he started relaying his idea to the guard. It was a little messy and he'd have to fix up some of the finer details as soon as the sun arose but provided he got back to sleep within the next ten minutes he really didn't mind.

...

"It's an exciting day for us here at Crocus as we prepare for the day ahead," announced Chapati into his microphone, his voice being relayed across the entire stadium. "Today we are also joined by Lahar from the magical council who is here to enjoy the festivities."

"It has been a while Lahar-kun," said Yajima as he spoke with the young man. As their conversation carried over the crowd there was another member of the council who was sitting in the audience but was nowhere near as happy to be there.

For Dranbolt, the idea of the games didn't amuse him in the slightest but it was just one set of competitors that he had come here to see. The guild which he had once falsely been a part of still held a soft spot in his heart, more for the blue haired dragon slayer than anybody else. Yet unlike most who had simply stopped paying attention as the name of Fairy Tail faded with the lack of it's strongest members, he had kept a close eye over the guild. While he hadn't mentioned it to anybody (more often than not because nobody truly cared anymore) he had found it peculiar that the rumours he had heard in regards to Fairy Tail having recruited some strong guild members during the absence of those who had been on Tenroujima at the time. With his gaze looking over the stands where the members of Fairy Tail who weren't competing were sitting he could only see those he had briefly met during his infiltration. Unless all nine of these supposed people were absent today it seemed that it was just rumours after all.

"Ladies and gentlemen, boys and girls of all ages!" shouted the pumpkin headed Mato from the arena floor. "Today we've got a special contest lined up for you, it's name... LOCK AND KEY!"

"Lock and Key?" repeated Ace.

"Is it a treasure hunt?" said Natsu excitedly.

"A treasure hunt would seem too much like Hidden," said Erza as she recalled the first game that they had participated in. "Unless instead of treasure you were searching for your partner, remember he did say this was a two person contest."

"Well I've already claimed one spot down there, who wants to go with?" asked Ace to his guildmates.

"I'll do it," declared Erza before either Gray or Natsu could start butting heads against one another.

"You sure?" asked Lucy wondering if Erza had fully recovered from the fight with Baccus only the previous day.

"It will be fine," stated Erza as both her and Ace's names flashed up in the sky.

"Fairy Tail A have gone with Ace and Erza," announced Chapati. "While we saw Erza in action yesterday we have not yet seen Ace in action though being a member of the team chosen by Fairy Tail that his strength is at least on par with the displays we have already witnessed."

"Ace is fighting!" shouted Luffy in excitement from where the Straw Hats stood. "Then I'll fight as well."

"If Luffy's fighting then I, the great captain Ussop will join him," declared the sniper who knew that with Luffy doing the brunt of the work he wouldn't really have anything to worry about.

"If Er-chan's fighting then I'm going to show her just how spiffy I am," stated Milliana from the Mermaid Heel camp.

"Go with her Arana," commanded Kagura, wanting no part in this event.

"Understood Kagura," said Arana as she and Milliana started making their way down to the arena.

"While I don't particularly wish to show off too much, Ooba has stated that I must participate today," said Jura.

"With Jura competing we can't lose," said Yuka confidently.

"I'll go with him," said Lyon, his eyes focused on the team from Raven Tail or more specifically one Teach. Tobi was still in recovery as doctors did their best to restore his magical power but no matter what they did nothing seemed to be working, not a single trace of magical energy could be restored. By force if need be he would discover how to retrieve his comrades power.

Looking down at the young ice mage, Jura could sense what was going through the man's mind. Likewise he wanted to help Tobi but going in blindly with pure force was not the way to go about it. An opponent he could effectively steal magical energy down to the core, one of the most dangerous opponents imaginable. For now he would observe and figure out the best course of action and if that course of action would appear before him then he wouldn't hesitate to take it.

"I'm going to be doing it for the team," said Cana as she held a bottle of booze in hand, much of the liquid already having been consumed by the card mage.

"I guess I'll have to make sure nothing bad happens then," said Mirajane with a soft smile.

"Oi, where's Mystogan?" asked Gajeel noticing the lack of member of the team who wasn't actually part of the guild.

"With council members here it's pretty obvious he's keeping out of sight," said Laxus. The lightning mage had thought about chucking his name in alongside Cana but recalling how Ace had stated that Luffy could be the one opponent he would find difficult he decided that he would save the fight for another time.

Sabertooth watched as the rest of the remaining guilds made their decisions. Surprisingly in attendance was Rufus, the Memory Make mage feeling strong enough to make the trip out of his bed despite the arguments that the doctors had put forth. While he was no way at a hundred percent physically after what had happened where the guild was staying the previous night the best thing for him to do at the moment was show that even after such a humiliation that Sabertooth was still strong.

"Orga, let us make our presence known upon the battlefield," stated Minerva nominating both herself and the lightning wielder for the contest, as Quatro Cerberus nominated their two guild members.

"I believe that today would be a good chance to show off the strength of the twin dragons," said Rufus as he clutched lightly at his ribs, his bones still quite tender.

"Considering the speed of which I ventured here I think it just that I should partake in the festivities," said Minerva as she brushed a bang of hair behind her ear. "And I know just how infuriated you two would be if I were to separate you on the battlefield thus it is only fair that Orga and I take centre stage."

While Sting and Rogue stayed silent on the matter this was pretty much their opportunity to shine on the battlefield and more than not they wanted to get vengeance on those who had desecrated their hotel. The guild master who had been first to wake had practically ordered those competing to do everything in their power to not only prove that Sabertooth was still the strongest but that any and all who stepped in their path would be met with 'extreme measures.' Had either Natsu or Gajeel put their hands forward for the event Sting and Rogue would have put up more of an argument but

The team who had been last to make their selection was Raven Tail, Alexis indicating to both Orba and Nullpudding to go and join the fray. "Zehahahaha, don't want me to go and ruin the action," laughed Teach from the side, Flare doing her best to stand as far away from the pirate as possible.

"Your skills will be required later, wouldn't want anything to happen to you beforehand," said Alexis from behind his mask. The central figure of the Raven Tail camp had been able to get a hold of what battles would be taking place later and when everything went according to plan it would be Teach he would be relying on. Despite stumbling upon the pie loving pirate by accident it had been a brilliant stroke of luck and once discovering that Teach's magical ability wasn't just similar to Orba's but more advanced in every way there wasn't any possibility that he wouldn't get what he wanted from Fairy Tail.

"Figured you'd jump in on this," said Ace to his brother who was bouncing up and down in excitement to be competing alongside his family.

"Everybody's here," said the host as he looked upon the sixteen competitors. "Alright, let me break down the even for you, Lock and Key."

"Is it a treasure hunt?" asked Luffy having had exactly the same thought process as Natsu.

"Not in the normal sense," replied Mato. As magic began to circulate around them before walls began to burst up from the ground. The entire group remained still as the walls began to tower over the top of them before finally coming to a stop. "Both members of the guild will start in the same spot at dead ends of this maze however only one will be able to move from a set location until their partner returns with the key."

"How do we decide who's going to be set in place?" asked Lyon.

As if to answer his question, an overly large lock that was more for appearance than anything else appeared on Lyon's chest along with one half of all of the teams.

"Seems I'm out of this contest for a while," said Erza as she examined the lock that hung from her chest.

"What, why do I have this on me?" shouted Luffy as he tried to remove the lock to find that it was fixed in place. Usopp meanwhile began to shake at the knees as he realised that Luffy would be temporarily out of the competition and he would be alone against all of the magic wielders around him. Suddenly all of the confidence he had had went straight out the window.

"In order for those with a lock to enter the competition, their partner must find the key which is being held by a person from an opposing guild. When that person loses control of the key it opens up whichever corresponding lock," said Mato.

"So it's a game of hide and seek," said Milliana feeling spiffy that she was fortunate enough to not be wearing the lock.

"Not quite," said Erza.

"Indeed, since you don't know who will be carrying which key there is only a one in seven chance that you'll actually free your own guild member as opposed to giving the enemy the boost in numbers," analysed Jura who was able to take in account the fact he wouldn't be holding the key to free Lyon.

"Luck of the draw huh," said Cana as she took a swig from her bottle.

"I hope you can let me out to play Cana-san," said Mirajane who still had a smile plastered upon her face.

"There will be a different ranking system for points given out this time as well," said Mato going into further detail. "If both teammates are out in the maze and neither have been defeated then that team receives ten points. If the lock has been broken but only one competitor remains then you get only seven points. In the case that the lock hasn't been broken but the person searching for the key is still within the maze then your guild will receive four points. Finally, if either both competitors have been taken out of the contest or the person searching for the key is removed from play and by the end the lock hasn't been broken then you will get no points for your team."

"That makes it a bit more complicated," said Arana. "After you let your guild member out you want to stop other people from being released to ensure that they don't get as many points."

"So it's both possible to hold a guild to no points while you're able to get ten points," said Orga who was slightly annoyed that he wouldn't be competing to start with. Knowing Minerva's strength though, it would only be a matter of time before he got to have some fun.

"It's possible for several teams as well to get ten points," said Nullpudding.

"Indeed," said Mato as magical circles appeared around each pair. "The time limit for this event will be one hour. Let Lock and Key, begin!"

...

"Go for it Milliana," said Arana as she watched from her limited space. The way her small area was set up was in the form of runes planted upon the ground that would disable once a wizard lost control of the corresponding key.

"Don't worry Arana," said Milliana as she looked at the key in her hand before putting it in her back pocket. "I'm feeling spiffy!"

...

Orba stood in absolute silence as Nullpudding sat down within the runes. While an hour was a long time to wait, with what would be happening later their best course of action for the meantime was to do absolutely nothing.

...

"WILD FOUR!"

...

"I shall meet you upon the battlefield," said Lyon who watched as Jura stepped forward, the powerful wizard not rushing for the moment.

"I'll make sure you don't have to wait long," said Jura as he disappeared from sight.

...

Orga sat and stared at the sky above him, Minerva already having long since gone. Provided that the first person she ran into held the key to his freedom, he predicted that he would be out of the confined space in no longer than five minutes.

...

"Have fun," said Mirajane waving politely to Cana who waved back to the S class wizard.

"Sure thing," said Cana who wondered if she would be able to find some more booze somewhere within the maze.

...

"Oi Usopp, get me out of here quickly!" shouted Luffy.

"Of...of course," said Usopp as he tried to gather some manner of willpower. "Something like this is no problem for the great captain Usopp!"

Although Usopp was mildly relieved about how the match was structured. It meant that he didn't really even have to do anything and there was still a chance that Luffy could be released into the fray.

...

"Your greatest threat is probably in the form of Jura," explained Erza to Ace who hadn't rushed off at first notice. "He holds the title of one of the ten Great Wizard Saints so even though you're made of fire there is a chance that he'll find a way to defeat you."

"You're giving me so much confidence, you know that," said Ace with a cheeky smirk.

"Prove to me otherwise then," said Erza with a determined look in her eye.

"Done," said Ace as he began to walk away.

...

_As I write down these words so that those who wish to know the past can learn, I can't help but remember the third day of the grand magic games, Lock and Key. Know that it is hard to put ink to paper for the moment as I don't think I'll ever forget this day, sadly not for the reasons I wish. Heart, courage, determination. All these qualities were shown by Fairy Tail and their allies upon this day but what had happened, the memories are burned into my thoughts and although they rose and rose again, after what happened they could do nothing..._

_But fall._

_..._

**Hope you enjoyed.**

**First off I'll say that I am sorry about the delay in between chapters, works killing me at the moment along with trying to find a new place to live and booking flights to go on a holiday in a couple of weeks so it's been a little chaotic. That being said, I have planned out how I am going to finish the story and it will end with the conclusion of the Grand Magic Games Arc. I will continue afterwards but in a sequel (which I've partly started putting together the beginning anyways) which I'll start writing a few months after putting this one to bed. The way I saw this story ending I had three possible routes to take which in turn would affect everything afterwards. I've made my decision and I can only say that I'm looking forward to writing that scene so much.**

**While people are probably going to complain as to why I didn't do Pandemonium, I figured that with what happened to Sabertooth that if they didn't take action directly they would find a way to do it in a roundabout sort of way. In this case they had the event changed into one that would allow them to bring about their revenge within the competition.**

**For those of you who couldn't guess, the last little section is Levy's Diary entry. While in canon she wrote about how Erza rose when nobody else believed, this entry is a little more befitting what is about to occur.**

**Sevenar: I was thinking of doing Ace vs 100 but plans change and all that.**

**Peace.**


	31. Chapter 31

**Disclaimer: I do not own One Piece or Fairy Tail**

**...**

"Don't be scared, don't be scared," chanted Usopp as he crept through the maze, his knees shaking back and forth. Due to this he had to have his stance widened as to not have his bones banging against one another and alerting everybody else of his location. Despite his sweaty palms his hold upon his weapon didn't waver possibly because of his grip was strong enough to indent steel.

Coming towards a corner, Usopp had his back to the wall as he tried to keep control of his heart rate. "Silence you, do you want them to hear you," he whispered in a desperate attempt to slow down his heart rate. Breathing deeply he peered around the corner, praying that somebody wasn't in front of him. Upon seeing that the coast was clear he stepped out into the open yet his grip on his weapon didn't falter in the slightest.

He was a long range fighter through and through but even with the handful of dials he kept on him he doubted whether or not he could compete against the might of some of these mages. Usopp recalled the battle he had seen on the first day where Jura had shown his power, what were the odds that he was going to walk into the freakishly strong person who could be just around the corner?

At least he was confident he could run pretty fast.

The sound of footsteps behind him caused Usopp to twist around on his feet in little more than a heartbeat, his weapon raised and prepared to fire. After a few tense seconds Usopp conceded that he had been hearing things and lowered his weapon, a fine sheet of sweat glistening upon his brow.

"You should've kept your weapon up," warned a voice behind him which caused Usopp to shiver from head to toe before he took off screaming. Zipping around corners, the sniper dared not turn around lest he lose precious milliseconds in his escape. Sadly in an urgent moment he took a wrong turn and found himself running directly into a dead end at full force, his nose almost breaking from the collision that knocked him to the ground.

Panting frantically, Usopp scurried back to his feet and pressed his back against the wall, raising his weapon upright as he prepared to face the challenge that was coming towards him. Seconds seemed to last as long as hours as the member of the Straw Hats swallowed a lump within his throat as perspiration poured down his face. For the longest of time it seemed as if he had lost his pursuer but he dared not relax for a heartbeat. He was right to do so as the wall he had his back to exploded outwards in a shower of debris that sent him sprawling across the ground painfully.

Recovering as quickly as he could, Usopp fired three rapid fire rounds towards where the explosion had come from. While two attacks were avoided without much hassle, his opponent managed to catch the third projectile as if it was nothing. "Cute," she mocked before tossing it to the side before finally stepping into the open to show just who the sniper was up against.

For some reason he felt as if the member of the Ten Wizard Saints would have been the better opponent as he found himself staring at the imposing member of Minerva. With grace in her step, the member of Sabertooth walked ever closer. "At least you know where you belong worm," she taunted as she closed the distance between her and Usopp. "Groveling on the ground by my feet, sadly you are not even worthy of being in my presence."

Usopp had no time to prepare as he found himself flung into the wall by an explosion before falling to his hands and knees, blood pooling out of his mouth. A smug smirk crossed Minerva's face as she lashed out with a kick at the side of Usopp's head, only through quick reflexes was the sniper able to roll out of the way of the assault.

'_She saw through my ketchup star?'_ pondered Usopp as he grabbed hold of his over sized slingshot, '_or did she want to make sure I stayed down?'_

"Take this," shouted Usopp as he pulled back on the elastic straps. "Firebird Star!"

The crowd watched in awe as it seemed as if a phoenix burst from Usopp's weapon and they were equally as stunned as with a simple wave of Minerva's hand the attack vanished as if it had never existed in the first place. Usopp swallowed nervously as he looked up towards his opponent, her dominating form looming ever larger as he wondered what he had to do in order to defeat her.

...

Ace's face was emotionless as the body of the member of Quatro Cerberus falling at his feet. As the body vanished from sight, the former pirate couldn't help but wonder whether he'd released a more dangerous enemy into the fray or if he had somehow managed to snag the right opponent and allowed Erza to enter the mix. Figuring that there was no real way to discover who he had unleashed at the moment, Ace started moving again through the winding corridors in search of his next target. It didn't take him long however to stand within a large opening and he found himself staring at the person who he would now be fighting.

...

"This will be difficult," said Makarov as he cupped his chin within the palm of his hand as he looked down upon the battlefield. His views were shared with a majority of the guild who couldn't help but wonder just how Ace would fare in this upcoming test of strength. The rest of the crowd though already believed they knew who the winner would be.

...

"It is a pleasure to meet you Ace-dono," said Jura as he stood intimidatingly in the center of the clearing. "I have heard great things about you from Makarov."

"That's cause he only knows the good things about me," said Ace which caused the member of the Ten Wizard Saints to chuckle lightly.

"As much as I would like to avoid this conflict, I must do what needs to be done for my guild and likewise you will do what needs to be done for your guild," said Jura as he uncrossed his arms.

"That or we could just fight for the fun of it," said Ace as he cracked his neck from side to side. "Just forget about all those points or the fact that we're being watched by all these people and simply duke it out man against man."

"I would like that," said Jura with a smile before he went into action, a single wave of his hand causing the ground beneath Ace to rocket up and send the Fairy Tail member into the air. While up there however this gave Ace a quick moment to think about just how he was going to fight against someone as strong as Jura. From the time he had spent training on the beach he was aware that an element such as Earth could hit him and since Jura used the ground as a weapon it gave him no advantage at all in that department. His only point going for him at the moment was that he was an unknown factor, nobody here knew what he was capable of yet and he would have to use that as his one and only advantage.

As another pillar of stone tried to swat him out of the air, Ace gracefully swerved around it and placed his feet upon the slab of Earth before pushing off of it and in doing so avoided another attack that would have crushed him. "Talk about pulling no punches," said Ace as he pulled out his dagger and tossed it at Jura as hard as he could. Much like he expected him to, a slab of Earth rose from the ground and prevented the projectile from striking the member of Lamia Scale.

While many could have wondered just what Ace had been planning, surprisingly it was all that he needed as the second that Jura had spent to defend himself allowed Ace to land on the ground without any threat of being attacked...at least for a moment. Barely a handful of seconds had passed before Jura was on the assault again as blunted stone spears did their best to restrict the movement of Ace. Using all the speed he could muster, Ace weaved in and out of the attacks as he tried to get closer to where Jura stood, the pirate not fazed in the slightest as one jagged piece shot forward and hit him across the cheek with enough strength that it would have drawn blood provided he wasn't made of fire. This single moment of course did not go unnoticed by Jura whose eyes sharpened ever so slightly.

Slapping his palms together, two walls of stone appeared on either side of Ace and rapidly shot towards one another, Ace barely able to jump high enough in time to avoid getting crushed. Standing atop the elevated platform, Ace leaped through the air so that he was positioned directly over where Jura stood, the wizard looking up at the Fairy Tail member with intrigue as Ace pulled his fist back.

"Hiken!" shouted Ace ferociously as he punched towards Jura, a torrent of fire shooting from his hand. The crowd shouted in shock as the former pirate used anything that could be labeled as 'magic' for the first time. Roughly a dozen seconds passed before Ace fell to the floor, his attack still burning brightly behind him.

Any hope that he had done any damage was shattered as the flames dispersed to reveal that Jura had shielded himself by creating two slanted slabs of stone that had created a roof over his head. The member of the Ten Wizard Saints however found himself on the back foot once again as Ace once more flung his knife at Jura, having somehow gotten hold of it once more in his mad dash between Jura's attacks. For the first time in the fight, Jura moved from his starting spot; the knife soaring through the air and tearing through the fabric of his clothes.

"Impressive Ace-dono," said Jura before charging forward at a blistering pace, his fist plowing straight into Ace's face and it came as no surprise to the member of Lamia Scale as his fist was not met with flesh and bone. The powerful mage skidded past where Ace stood before lifting up his arm, a wall of stone protecting him from a lance made of flame that succeeded in piercing through the defensive wall but not far enough to reach him.

...

"Is Jura on the defensive?" asked Chelia in awe at the match. Like most of the crowd she had thought that this fight would not have lasted more than a minute. While the master of Lamia Scale responded by making the young girl spin around rapidly on the spot, Obaba couldn't help but be slightly worried about how far Ace had managed to push the strongest member of her guild.

"Makarov, just where do you find these brats?" she whispered under her breath, unheard under the deafening roar of the crowd.

...

Down upon the battlefield, Ace and Jura stood out in the open once more, a mutual understanding between the two of them that those who hadn't dueled before would understand. Not a word was spoken between them as they weighed up what had so far occurred and how the battle would likely continue from here. One thing was for certain however and that was that both men now had a great deal more respect for one another.

Their duel however would not resume as planned as a section of the wall exploded outwards in a shower of smoke and debris, the body of Usopp being held in a single hand by Minerva who stood atop the rubble with her chest puffed outwards in satisfaction. Ace for one couldn't believe the state that Usopp was in; weren't the rules meant to send those who forfeited or were knocked unconscious allowed to escape the confinements of the maze? One scary thought crossed the former pirates mind however and that was that Usopp had never been given the chance to state that he was giving up. The sniper's nose looked as if it was broken in three different places, his clothes were bathed in blood and his hand looked as if every individual finger had been snapped in different placed.

It looked as if he had just walked through the mouth of hell and back again.

"Usopp!" shouted Ace as he rushed over, getting there just in time as Minerva tossed the nearly lifeless body and managed to catch him before he hit the ground. "The hell happened?"

The response he was given was not in words however as Usopp coughed up blood all over Ace as the sniper reached into his back pocket for something. Unsure of just what was going on, Ace held out his hand allowing Usopp to give him the item. "Get...get her...with this," said Usopp through struggling breaths, once more hacking up blood over the dirt this time. "I...had Luffy...unleash hell into it..."

That was all the member of the Straw Hats was able to say before his consciousness finally faded, his one sided fight against the witch finally over. Another second passed before he vanished from Ace's hands and out of the competition. "He fought like a coward, crawling on the ground like the worm he was," declared Minerva with a smirk upon her face.

Jura watched on with a scowl upon his face, knowing full well that Minerva had not needed to use such force against the Straw Hat member. He had heard rumors that the Sabertooth guild member was cruel but this was far beyond anything he had heard. Looking at Ace however as the former pirate was rising to his feet he could feel the malicious killing intent seeping from his body, a force that was pretty much overwhelming in nature.

"Oh, you wish to avenge that pathetic man, admiral yet foolish," mocked Minerva.

"To avenge one's crew mate is the responsibility of the captain," declared Ace as he gripped on to the item Usopp had gave him. "Considering the captain is my brother, I'll suffice for now."

Minerva didn't have time to respond as Ace burst forward, flames licking at his heels as he held his hand extended and pressed the impact dial into Minerva's chest. With a twisted click, the dial operated and injected the entire force that Luffy had previously injected into the item directly into Minerva's body. Blood expelled from her mouth as the member of Sabertooth was blown off her feet and sent crashing into the wall behind her.

Despite it being a physically devastating blow that rocked the female wizard inside and out, her consciousness was still intact but no longer was she capable of boasting her strength any longer, given that she was on her hands and knees with blood pooling out of her mouth. "You foul cretin," she cursed as she tried to push herself back to her feet, only to find that Ace was charging in once more with knife in hand intent on ending the Sabertooth members life. Her only saving grace came in the form of a fist covered in black lightning that struck Ace across the side of the face, the God Slaying magic able to strike the man made of fire with devastating force.

Ace bounced across the ground twice before skidding to a stop to see that Orga had entered the fray and was now assisting Minerva back to a standing position. "Shit," Ace cursed as he rubbed his cheek, realising that he had made a miscalculation by thinking that Jura was his one main threat. To have actually been hit by such an attack was something that managed to bring him down to Earthland once more and figured that it only made sense as lightning was hotter than fire and thus the attack had been able to injure him. He looked over at Jura to see what the member of the Ten Wizard Saints was going to do but saw that he had been joined by Lyon, his fellow guildmate. With ten points in hand, the two men from Lamia Scale knew better than to risk their guilds points and were backing away momentarily.

They didn't get too far however as a fist sprung forth from nowhere, halting them in their tracks before bouncing back to where it had shot from revealing the rubber pirate in all his glory. "Finally I found someone," he said as he adjusted the straw hat above his head. "I was running around for ages, this place is like a mystery place, there are dead ends everywhere so I just busted my way through."

For those in witness who didn't believe him they were able to look past the captain saw holes after holes in a stretch, a sizeable shortcut having been made by the rubber man. "Oi, Ace!" shouted Luffy as he waved towards his brother before jumping to the side, a flock of ice birds that Lyon had shot at him in an attempt to catch the former pirate off guard. "Oi, that wasn't nice."

"You attacked us first," declared Lyon.

"Oh yea, I did," said Luffy as he crossed his arms as he recalled his actions in the last twenty seconds.

"Just who is this imbecile?" asked Minerva as she spent these valuable seconds recovering.

"He's the person who took Rufus out of action," explained Orga. "Don't underestimate him."

"I guess we will not be able to get out of here without a battle," stated Jura as he looked at the scenario around him. Indeed his words spoke true and he couldn't help but feel slightly excited at the battle that was about to take place. The strongest guild against one of the strongest wizards along with his guildmate was going to be a spectacle in it's own right. Adding both Ace and Luffy to the mix only made it all the more exciting.

Electricity began to circle around Orga's hands before he lashed out, a bolt of black lightning rocketing forward to where Luffy stood as the member of Sabertooth tried to get revenge for what happened to Rufus. Seeing the attack coming and recalling some of his prior adventures, Luffy didn't even bother to move as the lightning consumed his being and blasted a hole through the wall behind him.

While the crowd gasped in shock, as the attack dissipated it showed Luffy unharmed and on the move, his arm stretched out behind him as it rotated around and around. "Gomu gomu no Rifle!" he shouted as he closed the distance between him and his target, unleashing his attack. For some ungodly reason that left many in the crowd stumped, of all the people he could have tried to attack he had decided that Jura was the best target to choose. The Straw Hats up both in the competitors box and in the stands were well aware that Luffy always knew who he would fight from the get go and this had been no different to any other time he had taken on the strongest opponent.

Having seen the attack coming, Jura summoned a pillar of stone to protect himself which caused Luffy's fist to drive into the wall with sickening force. The rubber pirate found himself leaping away however as the wall exploded outwards, Jura as well having to shield his eyes from the debris as he looked towards Minerva who had unleashed the attack. Minerva quickly moved out of the way as a giant ape made of ice smashed it's fist into where she had been standing, Lyon having done his best to attack while her guard was down. Black lightning shot forward at where Lyon was standing but Orga didn't have enough time to aim properly as he found himself having to avoid bullets of fire being shot at him from Ace.

The crowd couldn't get enough as the six people beneath him fought it out with one another, having to defend from all sides and be careful not to get too overconfident in case they put a single foot out of place and find themselves pounced upon. Cana, who had had a simple run up to this point found herself looking at the carnage spilling out before her. Rubbing her eyes, the card mage opted not to join the fray and instead turned around and headed back into the maze before she found herself dragged into the fight.

Ace punched outwards, flames shooting forward as Lyon did his best to prevent his ice shield from melting. The member of Lamia Scale found his safety through Jura who launched a pillar of stone straight into Ace's stomach that made the former pirate spit out bile and blood. The man made of fire bounced upon the ground a couple of times before skidding to a stop only to roll out of the way as Orga's fist drove into the ground that he had previously occupied. Before the member of Sabertooth could follow up however Luffy's foot kicked him across the side of the head, the rubber appendage doing significant damage as blood burst from Orga's nose. The former pirate leaped out of the way however as an explosion bursting forth from where he stood, Minerva doing her best to take down the other half of the Straw Hats in the event.

Ace meanwhile was still doing his best to recover from Jura's attack, having not felt a blow like that since his battle with Jimbei, something that seemed like a lifetime ago. The pirate had no time to recover however as Lyon went on the offensive, several eagles made of ice slamming into his back. The hardened water was painful for the fire man who grunted in pain before flaring his powers outwards to evaporate the ice before it got a chance to do further damage.

"I've got you now," shouted the other member of Quatro Cerberus who had been waiting on the sidelines for an opportune moment to etch his name down in history by taking down one of these titans. "WILD..."

His chance at glory was shot down however, Ace having gotten back to his feet and backhanding the opposing guild member with enough force that he was unconscious before he hit the ground, his body never touching the dirt as it teleported away from the battlefield before it could happen. The member of Fairy Tail had no reprieve as a bolt of black lightning slammed into his back with enough force to knock Ace off of his feet and across the ground several times. His body came to a surprising halt however as the area around him exploded, Minerva determined to finish the former pirate once and for all.

She never got the chance however as a siren rang out and the field around them evaporated signalling that their time battling one another had come to a close. A standing ovation was given, not a single member of the crowd was sitting down as they all applauded the spectacle they had bore witness to. "What an outstanding performance!" shouted Chapati whose in game commentary had gone unheard most of the event due to the noise of the crowd. "This was an event that we shall tell our grandchildren about, telling them of how they witnessed some of the most powerful combatants to ever grace this arena duke it out with such raw strength, these wizards truly are something to behold."

As both the other announcers put their views out on the broadcast, Ace was doing his best to make sure that he didn't collapse now that the battle was over. "That was awesome fun," said Luffy as he came and patted Ace on the back. "Hey, do you know where Usopp is?"

Ace looked at his kid brother, unsure what to tell him at this point. "Luffy," he said slowly as he gripped his shoulder. "Go to the infirmary, be by your nakama."

Luffy's eyes quickly widened in realization before he took off with enough speed to kick up dust at his heels, not even listening to the results as they were announced. "Securing Ten points each is both Sabertooth and Lamia Scale," shouted Chapati. "Getting seven points for their team is the Straw Hats. Meanwhile Fairy Tail A and B, along with Mermaid Heel and Raven Tail all score four points. Sadly Quatro Cerberus ends the first part of the day with zero points added to their total. After an explosive start to the day, Raven Tail keep a hold of their lead but only just having 36 points before the battle rounds. Right up their tail is Lamia Scale with 34 points being followed by Mermaid Heel with 33 points. Next is Sabertooth who now have 31 points. Seemingly back a long way, the Straw Hats have 23 points and are being followed by Fairy Tail A with 20 points. In seventh is Fairy Tail B who have 14 points but they are leagues ahead of Quatro Cerberus who only have 3 points. With the battle portion of the exam to go today, will the leaderboard be shaken up again?"

...

"Will Alexi of Raven Tail and Laxus of Fairy Tail B make their way to the arena for the first battle of the day!"

"Come on, it's time to initiate our plan," declared Alexi as he along with the rest of his team walked down the corridor. Looking over his shoulder however he found that Teach wasn't following them. "Teach, come with us."

"Of course, zehahahaha," laughed Teach as he began to follow, ready to put his own plans into action.

**...**

**Hope you enjoyed.**

**Sorry about the delay from the last chapter but I have been on holiday for a while plus the whole moving house thing kind of threw me off my game. Hopefully I'll be able to update a little more frequently now but don't hold me to that cause I have no idea what's right around the corner.**

**Zikarn Krais: You're not the only one who thinks that and I understand where you are coming from. Hopefully by the end of the story people will have changed their minds on this subject but you never know.**

**Sindela: No, this story will remain in the Fairy Tail universe throughout the sequel.**

**Til next time.**

**Peace.**


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